THE  WORKS 


OP 


JOHN   ADAMS 


M   0    3  T   ; 
ET    CHARLES    C    LI    ' 


IT     1    JAJVtES    B  R  0 


THE 


WORKS 


OF 


JOHN   ADAMS, 

SECOND  PRESIDENT   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES 

WITH 

A     LIFE     OF     THE     AUTHOR, 
NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

BY 

HIS   GKANDSON 
CHARLES    FRANCIS    ADAMS. 

VOL.  V. 


BOSTON: 
LITTLE,    BROWN,    AND    COMPANY. 

1865. 


.A* 


V 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851,  by  CHARLES  C.  LITTLE  AND 
JAMES  BROWN,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


CONTENTS   OF   VOLUME   V. 


DEFENCE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES  OF  AMERICA.     VOL.  II. 3 

ITALIAN  REPUBLICS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

CHAP.       I.  Florence.     Machiavel  .....       5 

II.  Florence.     Guicciardini  and  Nerli     .....  106 

IIL  Florence.     Varchi 148 

IV.  Machiavel's  Plan  of  a  Perfect  Commonwealth    .        .        .183 

V.  Siena.    Malavolti 191 

VI.  Bologna.     Ghirardacci 291 

DEFENCE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  OF  AMERICA.     VOL.  III.  .        .  ...  333 

ITALIAN   REPUBLICS   OF   THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

CHAP.  VII.  Pistoia.     Fioravanti 335 

VIII.  Cremona.     Campo 427 

IX.  Padua.     Portenari 452 

X.  Mantua.     Equicola 479 

Montepulciano.     Spinello  Bend 484 

APPENDIX. 

POSTSCRIPT.  —  LETTER  TO  THE  ABBE  DE  MABLY,  ON  THE  PROPER 
METHOD  OF  TREATING  AMERICAN  HISTORY     .  491 


WORKS 


ON 


GOVERNMENT 


VOL.  V.  1 


DEFENCE 


OF   THE 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    GOVERNMENT 


OF     THE 


UNITED     STATES    OF    AMERICA, 


AGAINST     THE      ATTACK      OF      M.     TURGOT,     IN     HIS     LETTER     TO     DR. 
PRICE,    DATED    THE    TWENTY-SECOND    DAY    OF    MARCH,     1778. 


BY 


JOHN    ADAMS. 


"  As  for  us  Englishmen,  thank  Heaven,  we  have  a  better  sense  of  government,  delivered  to  us 
from  our  ancestors.  We  have  the  notion  of  a  public,  and  a  constitution  ;  how  a  legislative,  and  how 
an  executive  is  moulded.  We  understand  weight  and  measure  in  this  kind,  and  can  reason  justly 
on  the  balance  of  power  and  property.  The  maxims  we  draw  from  hence  are  as  evident  as  those 
in  mathematics.  Our  increasing  knowledge  shows  us  every  day  more  and  more  what  common 
sense  is  in  politics."  SHAFTESBURY'S  CHARACT.,  vol.  i.  p.  103. 

"  'T  is  scarce  a  quarter  of  an  age  since  such  a  happy  balance  of  power  was  settled  between 
our  prince  and  people,  as  has  firmly  secured  our  hiiherto  precarious  liberties,  and  removed  from 
us  the  fear  of  civil  commotions,  wars,  and  violence,  either  on  account  of  the  property  of  the 
subject,  or  the  contending-  titles  of  the  crown." 


IN    THREE     VOLUMES. 


VOL.  n. 


DEFENCE 


OF   THE 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    GOVERNMENT 


OF   THE 


UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  FIRST. 
ITALIAN  REPUBLICS   OF   THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

FLORENCE. 

THERE  is  no  example  of  a  government  simply  democratical ; 
yet  there  are  many  of  forms  nearly  or  remotely  resembling  what 
are  understood  by  "All  Authority  in  one  Centre."  There  once 
existed  a  cluster  of  governments,  now  generally  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Italian  Republics  of  the  Middle  Age,*  which  deserve 
the  attention  of  Americans,  and  will  further  illustrate  and  confirm 
the  principles  we  have  endeavored  to  maintain.  If  it  appears,  from 
the  history  of  all  the  ancient  republics  of  Greece,  "Italy,  and  Asia 
Minor,  as  well  as  from  those  that  still  remain  in  Switzerland, 
Italy,  and  elsewhere,  that  caprice,  instability,  turbulence,  revolu 
tions,  and  the  alternate  prevalence  of  those  two  plagues  and 

*  Ce  qu'on  appelle  communement  le  moyen  age  commence  a  Constantin  le 
Grand  —  Corps  Diplomatique,  Barbeyrac's  Preface  to  vol.  xxii.  p.  6. 

1* 


6  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

scourges  of  mankind,  tyranny  and  anarchy,  were  the  effects  of 
governments  without  three  orders  and  a  balance,  the  same  im 
portant  truth  will  appear,  in  a  still  clearer  light,  in  the  republics 
of  Italy.  The  sketches  to  be  given  of  these  cannot  be  introduced 
with  more  propriety  than  by  the  sentiments  of  a  late  writer,* 
because  they  coincide  with  every  thing  that  has  been  before 
observed. 

Limited  monarchies  were  the  ancient  governments ;  the  jea 
lousies  and  errors  of  the  nobles,  or  the  oppressions  they  suffered, 
stimulated  them  to  render  monarchy  unpopular,  and  erect  aristo 
cracies.  "  Ancient  nations  were,  in  one  point,  very  generally 
defective  in  their  constitutions,  and  that  was  the  incertitude  of 
the  sovereignty,  and,  by  consequence,  the  instability  of  govern 
ment  ;  which  was,  in  all  the  republics  of  Italy,  a  perpetual  occa 
sion  of  infinite  confusion.  In  no  part  of  Italy,  however  united 
together,  was  found  established  an  absolute  hereditary  monarch. 
By  many  examples,  it  is  manifest,  that  kings  either  were  created 
by  the  favor  of  the  multitude,  or  at  least  sought  their  consent, 
and  consulted  the  people  in  affairs  of  most  importance  and 
greatest  danger.  The  government  of  the  grandees,  which  suc 
ceeded,  was  rather  a  fraudulent  or  violent  usurpation,  than  a  true 
and  proper  aristocracy  established  by  law,  or  confirmed  by  long 
and  uncontested  possession;  and  a  popular  government  was 
never  so  free  or  so  durable  as  when  it  was  mixed  with  the 
authority  of  one  supreme  head,  or  of  a  senate ;  so  that  mixed 
governments  were  almost  always  preferred.  One  of  the  three 
kinds  of  governments  nevertheless  fell,  when  another  arose;  and 
all  the  Italian  republics,  nearly  at  one  time,  by  the  same  grada 
tions,  passed  from  one  form  of  administration  to  another. 

"  In  this  particular  all  the  memorials  of  ancient  Italy  agree. 
They  were,  from  the  beginning,  governed  by  kings.  The  Tuscans 
had  kings ;  the  Sabines  had  kings ;  and  so  had  the  people  of 
Latium ;  and  as  every  city  and  every  borough  formed  an  inde 
pendent  government,  these  kings  could  not  have  much  magnifi 
cence.  Many  states  often  obeyed  the  same  king ;  for  he  who 
had  the  lordship  of  one  city,  procured  himself  to  be  elected  the 
head  of  another.  Porsenna,  whom  Dionysius  calls  King  of  Tus 
cany,  because  he  was  followed  by  many  Tuscan  nations,  was 

*  Denina,  Rivoluzioni  d' Italia,  vol.  i.  p.  41. 


FLORENCE.  7 

from  the  beginning  only  King  of  Chiusi.  The  Kings  of  Rome, 
by  various  means,  gained  the  command  of  the  Latin  cities,  which 
nevertheless,  two  centuries  afterwards,  reputed  themselves  still 
independent  of  the  state  of  Rome.  The  King  of  the  Veientes 
had  the  lordship  of  Fidena,  a  free  city,  and  independent  of  the 
Veientes,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Visconti,  Lords  of  Milan, 
Castruccio,  Lord  of  Lucca,  and  the  Scala,  Lords  of  Verona,  (and 
so  many  other  princes  and  tyrants  of  the  later  ages,  before  the 
exaltation  of  Charles  V.)  made  such  progress  in  obtaining  the 
sovereignty  of  many  cities,  which  had  nothing  in  common  with 
Milan,  or  Lucca,  or  Verona.  These  kingdoms  were  either  sim 
ply  elective,  or  at  least  required  the  express  consent  of  the  people, 
howsoever  often  one  relation  succeeded  to  another.  Neither 
were  royal  governments  generally  displeasing  to  the  people ;  but 
the  grandees  and  nobles,  who  were  the  most  exposed  to  the 
caprice  of  the  prince,  both  in  their  persons  and  property,  studied 
to  generate  in  the  minds  of  the  common  people  a  hatred  to  the 
name  of  king,  and  to  excite  the  desire  of  liberty.  They  flattered 
themselves,  that  if  the  principality,  which  often  fell  into  the  hands 
of  new  men  and  adventurers,  such  as  Tarquin  in  Rome,  and 
Aristodemus  in  Cuma,  were  abolished,  they  should  be  able  to 
live,  not  only  with  more  security  and  greater  license,  but  with 
more  authority,  command,  and  power.  In  what  nation,  and  in 
which  city,  the  revolution  first  began,  is  not  easy  to  determine ; 
but  in  the  course  of  the  third  century  of  the  Roman  era,  one 
people  following  the  example  of  another,  this  by  means  of  one, 
and  that  of  another  opportunity,  either  expelled  by  violence  their 
present  kings,  or  desisted  from  electing  new  ones ;  and  all  Italy, 
hoisting  as  it  were  a  common  signal,  changed  at  once  its  whole 
form  of  government. 

"  The  odium  of  the  royal  name,  and  an  enthusiasm  for  liberty, 
seized  so  universally,  and  with  such  energy,  the  whole  Italian 
nation,  that  if  any  city  wished  either  to  continue  or  recover  the 
custom  of  kings,  this  inclination  was  scarcely  manifested  before 
it  was  pointed  out  and  reviled  by  the  other  cities,  and  upon  all 
great  occasions  abandoned.  The  Veientes,*  either  from  a  disgust 
at  the  cabals  and  ambition  which  arose  from  the  annual  creation 
of  new  magistrates,  or  the  better  to  provide  for  war,  created  afresh 

*  Liv.  lib.  v.  c.  i. 


8  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

a  king;  by  which  resolution  they  incurred  to  such  a  degree 
the  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  other  people  of  Tuscany,  that, 
contrary  to  every  rule  of  policy,  duty,  and  custom,  they  were  left 
alone  to  sustain  that  obstinate  war  with  the  Romans,  which 
ended  in  their  ruin.  In  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  of 
the  Roman  history,  there  is  seldom  or  never  mention  made  o{ 
kings  in  any  of  the  states  of  Italy.  The  whole  authority  and 
administration  of  public  affairs  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
nobility,  or  the  senate ;  and  that  body,  constituting  at  first  the 
middle  order  between  the  king  and  the  people,  became  the 
supreme  head  of  the  government.  And  although  the  greater 
magistracies  were  elected  by  the  voices  or  suffrages  of  the  people, 
nevertheless,  all  the  honors  and  all  the  power  of  the  govern 
ment  were  collected  in  the  grandees,  who  easily  commanded  the 
votes  of  the  electors,  and  who  alone  were  the  elected ;  for  none 
of  the  plebeians  dared  to  pretend  to  offices,  civil  or  military. 
And  it  is  too  evident  that,  in  every  kind  of  community,  the  rich 
and  the  noble  endeavor,  as  it  were,  by  their  very  nature,  to  exclude 
the  poor  and  the  plebeians.  Most  of  the  public  affairs  relative 
to  peace  or  war  were  treated  in  a  senate  composed  essentially  of 
patricians  and  nobles,  who,  in  every  thing  that  regarded  the  con 
stitution,  inclined  more  to  aristocracy  than  to  popular  govern 
ment.  No  city  was  so  mean  or  so  ill  ordered  as  not  to  have  a 
public  council,  or  a  senate.  Livy  speaks  of  the  senate,  not  only 
of  Naples,  Capua,  and  Cuma,  but  of  Nola,  Pipernum,  Tusculurn, 
Tivoli,  the  Veientes,  and  of  others,  so  frequently,  that  it  is  clear 
that  in  all  the  republics  there  was  an  order  distinct  from  the  ple 
beians,  who  retained  in  their  hands  the  essence  of  the  govern 
ment.  But  the  plebeians,  once  become  obstinate,  at  the  solicita 
tion  of  the  nobility,  in  a  hatred  of  tyranny,  had  not  far  to  go 
before  they  opened  their  eyes  upon  their  own  condition,  and 
learned  that  they  had  done  nothing  more  than  exchange  one 
master  for  many;  and  they  began  to  make  every  exertion  to 
obtain,  in  fact,  the  possession  of  that  liberty,  of  which  they  had, 
until  then,  obtained  a  taste  in  words,  from  the  order  of  patricians 
and  the  senate.  As  the  multitude  began  to  make  trial  of  their 
strength,  the  sovereign  authority  was  ceded  to  them  by  little  and 
little,  and  the  nobility,  in  their  turn,  were  tormented  and  tyran 
nized  by  the  plebeians.  Livy  observes,  that,  about  the  time  of 
the  Carthaginian  war,  by  a  kind  of  epidemical  malady  spread 


FLORENCE.  9 

through  the  Italian  republics,  the  plebeians  applied  themselves 
to  persecute  the  nobility.  Nevertheless,  the  order  of  the  grandees 
always  preserved  a  great  part  of  the  power;  for  the  nature  of 
popular  government  being  variable,  inconstant,  and  incapable  of 
conducting  itself,  the  senate  and  the  nobility,  who  act  with  more 
maturity  of  deliberation,  and  with  interests  more  united,  can 
generally  counterpoise  the  party  of  the  plebeians,  and  from  time 
to  time  overcome  it.  From  whence  it  happened,  that  all  the 
cities  were  exposed  to  continual  revolutions  of  government,  and 
very  rarely  enjoyed  that  perfect  equality,  which  is  the  end  of  a 
free  state ;  but  either  the  favor  of  the  people,  or  the  necessity 
of  the  senate,  devolved  the  principal  authority  on  some  indivi 
dual,  who,  with  or  without  the  title  of  supreme  magistrate,  was 
always  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  government.  Thus  we  find 
a  Manilius,  head  of  the  Latins ;  an  Accius  Tullius,  principal  of 
the  Volsci ;  a  Herennius,  of  the  Samnites ;  a  Calavius,  of  the 
Campanians ;  a  Valerius,  a  Camillus,  and  a  Fabius,  chiefs  of  the 
Romans.  And,  to  speak  the  truth,  there  was  never  any  great 
and  important  success  in  any  free  state,  either  at  home  or 
abroad,  except  in  those  times  when  some  one  citizen  held  the 
will  of  the  public  in  his  own  power." 

But,  waving  the  rest  of  these  general  observations  for  the 
present,  let  us  descend  to  particulars,  and,  quitting  the  ancient 
republics  of  Italy,  descend  to  those  of  the  middle  age,  among 
which  Florence  is  the  most  illustrious.  As  the  history  of  that 
noble  city  and  magnanimous  people  has  been  written  by  two 
authors,  among  a  multitude  of  others,  who  may  be  compared  to 
any  of  the  historians  of  Greece  or  Rome,  we  have  here  an  ex 
ample  more  fully  delineated,  an  experiment  more  perfectly  made 
and  more  accurately  described,  than  any  we  have  examined 
before.  We  shall  not,  therefore,  find  it  tedious  to  consider  mi 
nutely  the  affairs  of  a  brave  and  enlightened  people,  to  whom 
the  world  is  indebted  for  a  Machiavel,  a  Guicciardini,  and  an 
Americus  Vespucius ;  in  a  great  degree  for  the  resurrection  of 
letters,  and  a  second  civilization  of  mankind.  Next  to  Athens 
and  Rome,  there  has  not  existed  a  more  interesting  city.  The 
history  is  full  of  lessons  of  wisdom,  extremely  to  our  purpose. 

SWe  have  all  along  contended,  that  the  predominant  passion 
ofafl  men  in  power,  whether  kings,  nobles,  or  plebeians,  is  the 
same;  that  tyranny  will  be  the  effect,  whoever  are  the  governors, 


10  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

whether  the  one,  the  few,  or  the  many,  if  uncontrolled  by  equal 
laws,  made  by  common  consent,  and  supported,  protected,  and 
enforced  by  three  different  orders  of  men  in  equilibrich..  In  Flo 
rence,  where  the  administration  was,  by  turns,  in  the  nobles,  the 
grandees,  the  commons,  the  plebeians,  the  mob,  the  ruling  pas 
sion  of  each  was  the  same ;  and  the  government  of  each  imme 
diately  degenerated  into  a  tyranny  so  insupportable  as  to  produce 
a  fresh  revolution.  We  have  all  along  contended,  that  a  simple 
government,  in  a  single  assembly,  whether  aristocratical  or  demo- 
cratical,  must  of  necessity  divide  into  two  parties,  each  of  which 
will  be  headed  by  some  one  illustrious  family,  and  will  proceed 
from  debate  and  controversy  to  sedition  and  war.  In  Florence, 
the  first  dissension  was  among  the  nobility ;  the  second  between 
the  nobles  and  commons ;  and  the  third  between  the  commons 
and  plebeians.  In  each  of  which  contests,  as  soon  as  one  party 
got  uppermost,  it  split  into  two ;  and  executions,  confiscations, 
banishments,  assassinations,  and  dispersions  of  families,  were  the 
fruit  of  every  division,  even  with  more  atrocious  aggravations 
than  in  those  of  Greece.  Having  no  third  order  to  appeal  to  for 
decision,  no  contest  could  be  decided  but  by  the  sword. 

It  will  enable  us  the  better  to  understand  Machiavel,  whose 
history  will  be  abridged  and  commented  on,  if  we  premise  from 
Nardi,*  that  "  the  city  of  Florence  had,  like  all  other  cities,  its 
people  consisting  of  three  genera  of  inhabitants,  that  is  to  say, 
the  nobility,  the  people  of  property,!  and  the  common  peo 
ple.  Although  some  too  diligently  divided  the  nobility  into 
three  sorts,  calling  the  first,  nobles,  the  second,  grandees,  and  the 
third,  families ;  meaning  to  signify,  that  some  of  the  inhabitants 
had  come  into  the  city  and  become  citizens,  having  been  deprived 
of  their  own  proper  country  by  conquest,  while  they  were  attempt 
ing  to  enlarge  and  extend  their  territories ;  others,  originally  of 
this  country,  had  become  abundant  in  riches  and  powerful  in 
dependents,  either  by  their  own  industry  or  the  favor  of  fortune; 
and  others,  having  been  foreigners,  had  come  in  like  manner  to 
inhabit  the  city,  but,  from  their  primitive  condition,  they  still 
retained  the  distinctions  of  lord  and  vassal,  by  habit  and  by  fraud, 
both  in  the  city  and  the  country.  And  all  this  mixture  were 
indifferently  called  nobles,  grandees,  and  families  ;  and  they  were 

*  Le  Istorie  della  Cltta  di  Firenze,  p.  1. 
•j-  II  popolo  grasso,  e  il  pupolo  mmulo. 


FLORENCE.  11 

equally  hated,  contradicted,  and  opposed,  in  the  government  of 
the  republic,  and  in  all  their  other  actions,  by  that  party  which 
was  called  the  substantial  people,  il  popolo  grasso.  The  lower 
class  of  people,  the  plebeians,  il  popolo  minuto,  never  intervened 
in  government  at  all,  excepting  on  one  single  occasion,  when, 
with  violence,  they  usurped  it,  as  in  its  proper  place  will  be  re 
lated.  Some  persons  made  still  another  division  of  the  plebeians, 
and  not  without  reason ;  for  those  who  possessed  real  estate  in 
the  city  or  country,  and  were  recorded  in  the  public  books  of 
taxes  and  tributes  of  the  city,  and  were  called  the  Enregistered,* 
esteemed  themselves,  and  were  considered  by  their  fellow-citizens, 
as  holding  a  middle  station.  The  remainder  of  the  lower  class, 
who  possessed  no  kind  of  property,  were  held  of  no  account. 
Nevertheless,  all  this  undistinguished  aggregate  were  called  the 
people  of  Florence ;  and  the  expression  is  still  in  use,  as  the  peo 
ple  of  Athens,  or  the  people  of  Rome,  anciently  comprehended 
the  whole  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  cities ;  to  which  con 
fused,  and,  in  its  nature,  pernicious  aggregate,  as  that  of  the  head 
and  tail  always  is,  the  body  of  middling  citizens  will  always 
remain  extremely  useful,  and  proportioned  to  the  constitution  of 
a  perfect  republic." 

As  Machiavel  is  the  most  favorable  to  a  popular  government, 
and  is  even  suspected  of  sometimes  disguising  the  truth  to  con 
ceal  or  mollify  its  defects,  the  substance  of  this  sketch  will  be 
taken  from  him,  referring  at  the  same  time  to  other  authors ;  so 
that  those  young  Americans  who  wish  to  be  masters  of  the  sub 
ject,  may  be  at  no  loss  for  information. 

"  The  most  useful  erudition  for  republicans  is  that 1  which  ex 
poses  the  causes  of  discord ;  by  which  they  may  learn  wisdom 
and  unanimity  from  the  examples  of  others.  The  factions  in 
Florence  are  the  most  remarkable  of  any.  Most  other  common 
wealths  have  been  divided  into  two;  that  city  was  distracted 
into  many.  In  Rome,  the  contest  between  patricians  and  ple 
beians,  which  arose  after  the  expulsion  of  kings,  continued  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  republic.  The  same  happened  in  Athens,  and 
all  the  other  commonwealths  of  Greece,  Italy,  and  Asia  Minor. 

J  Descritti. 

i  Istorie  Florentine  di  NIC.  MaccUaveUi,  Proemio  dell'  Autore.  The  substance 
of  tliis  Avork  is  here  given  by  the  author,  who  now  and  then  translates  a  passage 
literally,  when  he  desires  to  comment  on  it. 


12  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Such  was  the  patriotism  or  good  fortune  of  Florence,  that  she 
seems  to  have  gathered  fresh  vigor,  and  risen  stronger  for  her 
factions.  Some,  who  escaped  in  the  struggles,  contributed  more 
by  their  courage  and  constancy  to  the  exaltation  of  themselves 
and  their  country,  than  the  malignity  of  faction  had  done  to 
distress  them.  And  if  such  orders  and  balances  had  been  esta 
blished  in  their  form  of  government  as  would  have  kept  the  citi 
zens  united  after  they  had  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  the  empire,  it 
might  have  equalled  any  republic,  ancient  or  modern,  in  military 
power  and  the  arts  of  peace." 

"  The  city  of  Florence l  was  begun  by  the  inhabitants  of  Fie- 
sole,  who,  situated  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  marked  out  a  plot  of 
ground  upon  the  plain  between  the  hill  and  the  river  Arno,  for 
the  conveniency  of  merchants,  who  first  built  stores  there  for  their 
goods.  When  the  Romans  had  secured  Italy  by  the  destruction 
of  Carthage,  this  place  multiplied  exceedingly,  and  became  a  city 
by  the  name  of  Villa  Arnina.  Sylla  was,  the  first,  and,  after  him, 
the  three  Roman  citizens  who  revenged  the  death  and  divided  the 
empire  of  Caesar,  who  sent  colonies  to  Fiesole,  that  settled  in  the 
plain,  not  far  from  the  town  already  begun ;  and  the  place  be 
came  so  full  of  buildings  and  inhabitants,  and  such  provisions 
were  made  for  a  civil  government,  that  it  might  well  be  reckoned 
among  the  cities  of  Italy. 

"  Whence  it  took  the  name  of  Florence  is  not  so  well  known. 
Tacitus  calls  the  town  Florentia,  and  the  people  Florentines.  It 
was  founded  under  the  Roman  empire  ;  but  when  that  was  over 
run  by  barbarians,  Totila,  King  of  the  Ostrogoths,  took  and  de 
molished  it.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards,  it  was 
rebuilt  by  Charlemagne,  from  whose  time,  till  1215,  it  followed 
the  fortune  of  those  who  successively  ruled  in  Italy;  for,  during 
that  period,  it  was  governed  first  by  the  posterity  of  Charlemagne, 
then  by  the  Berengarii,  and  last  of  all  by  the  German  emperors. 
In  1010  the  Florentines  took  and  destroyed  Fiesole.  When  the 
popes  assumed  greater  authority  in  Italy,  and  the  power  of  the 
German  emperors  was  upon  the  wane,  all  the  towns  of  that  pro 
vince  began  to  govern  themselves.  In  1080  Italy  was  divided 
between  Henry  III.  and  the  church.  Until  1215,  the  Florentines 
always  submitted  to  the  strongest,  having  no  other  ambition 

l  Lib.  ii. 


FLORENCE.  13 

than  to  preserve  themselves.  But  as,  in  our  bodies,  the  later 
diseases  come,  the  more  dangerous  they  are,  so,  the  longer  Flo 
rence  put  off  taking  a  part  in  the  troubles  of  Italy,  the  more  fatal 
these  proved. 

"  The  cause  of  its  first  division  is  well  known.  The  most  pow 
erful  families  in  Florence,  in  1215,  were  the  Buondelmonti  and 
the  Uberti,  and  next  to  them  the  Amidei  and  Donati.  A 
quarrel  happened  about  a  lady,  and  Messer  Buondelmonte 
was  killed.  This  murder  divided  the  whole  city,  one  part  of 
it  siding  with  the  Buondelmonti,  and  the  other  with  the  Uberti ; 
and  as  both  of  the  families  were  powerful  in  alliances,  castles, 
and  adherents,  the  quarrel  continued  many  years,  till  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.,  who,  being  likewise  King  of 
Naples,  and  desirous  to  strengthen  himself  against  the  church, 
and  establish  his  interest  more  securely  in  Tuscany,  joined  the 
Uberti,  who  by  his  assistance  drove  the  Buondelmonti  out  of 
Florence ;  and  thus  that  city  became  divided,  as  all  the  rest  of 
Italy  was  before,  into  the  two  factions  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibel- 
lines.*  The  Guelphs,  thus  driven  out  of  the  city,  retired  into  the 
valley,  which  lies  higher  up  the  Arno,  where  their  strong  places 
and  dependencies  lay,  and  defended  themselves  as  well  as  they 
could ;  but  when  Frederick  died,  the  neutral  people  in  the  city 

*  The  former  of  which  denominated  the  adherents  of  the  pope,  and  the  latter 
those  of  the  emperor ;  Guelph  being  the  name  of  the  general  of  the  first  army  for 
the  church  in  this  controversy,  and  Ghibelline  that  of  the  place  of  birth  of  the 
general  who  commanded  for  the  emperor,  about  1139. 

Darrina,  Rivoluzioni  d' Italia.  "  There  flourished  in  Germany  two  principal 
families,  the  one  called  the  Henries  of  Ghibilinga,  and  the  other  the  Guelphs  of 
Altdorp,  which,  by  the  marriage  of  Azzo  d'Este  with  Cunegund,  daughter  of 
Guelph  IIL,  engrafted  itself  into  the  house  of  Este,  called  afterwards,  for  that 
reason,  Guelfa  Estense,  from  which  are  descended  the  Dukes  of  Modena,  and 
those  of  Brunswick  and  Hanover.  From  the  first  of  which  families,  namely,  the 
Ghibellines,  have  arisen  many  kings  and  emperors,  as  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth 
Henry.  Of  the  other,  namely,  the  Guelphs,  there  had  been  for  many  years 
famous  dukes,  who,  contending  for  power  and  for  credit  with  the  emperors,  had 
very  often  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  the  state.  Under  the  reign  of  Henry  V. 
these  two  families  happily  united  in  alliance,  because  Frederic,  Duke  of  Suabia, 
married  Judith,  daughter  of  Henry,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  arid  sister  of  Guelph  VI., 
who  was  at  that  time  the  head  of  the  house  of  Altdorp." 

Commentari  de'.fatti  civili  occorsi  dentro  Firenze.  Scritto  dal  Senatore  Filippo 
de  Nerli,  p.  2. 

Historia  Fiorentina  di  M.  Piero  Buoninsegni,  Gentilhuomo  Fiorentino,  p.  35. 

Annali  d'ltalia,  da  Muratori,  torn.  vii.  pp.  150,  151,  anno  1215. 

ktoria  civile  del  Regno  di  Napoli  di  Pietro  Giannone,  torn.  iii.  p.  83. 

Muratori,  Dissertazioni,  torn.  iii.  p.  130. 

Muratori,  Antichitti,  Estensi,  parte  prima,  c.  xxxi.  p.  305. 

VOL.  V.  2 


14  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

endeavored  to  reunite  it,  and  prevailed  upon  the  Guelphs  to 
forget  the  wrongs  they  had  suffered,  and  return,  and  the  Ghibel- 
lines  to  dismiss  their  jealousies,  and  receive  them. 

After  they  were  reunited,  they  divided  the  city  into  six  parts, 
and  chose  twelve  citizens,  two  to  govern  each  ward,  with  the 
title  of  Anziani,  but  to  be  changed  every  year.  To  prevent  any 
feuds  or  discontents  that  might  arise  from  the  determination  of 
judicial  matters,  they  constituted  two  judges  that  were  not  Flo 
rentines,  one  of  whom  was  styled  the  captain  of  the  people,  and 
the  other  the  podesta,  to  administer  justice  to  the  people,  in  all 
causes  civil  and  criminal;  and  since  laws  are  but  of  little  authority 
and  short  duration,  where  there  is  not  sufficient  power  to  support 
and  enforce  them,  they  raised  twenty  bands  or  companies  in  the 
city,  and  seventy-six  more  in  the  rest  of  their  territories,  in  which 
all  the  youth  were  enlisted,  and  obliged  to  be  ready  armed  under 
their  respective  colors,  whenever  they  were  required  so  to  be  by 
the  captain  or  the  anziani.  Their  standard-bearers  were  changed 
every  year  with  great  formality." 

This  is  the  very  short  description  of  their  constitution.  The 
twelve  anziani  appear  to  have  had  the  legislative  and  executive 
authority,  and  to  have  been  annually  eligible  —  a  form  of  govern 
ment  as  near  that  of  M.  Turgot,  and  Marchmont  Nedham,  as 
any  to  be  found;  —  yet  the  judicial  power  is  here  separated,  and 
the  people  could  so  little  trust  themselves  or  the  anziani  with 
this  power,  that  it  was  given  to  foreigners. 

"  By  such  discipline  in  their  civil  and  military  affairs,  the  Flo 
rentines  laid  the  foundation  of  their  liberty ;  and  it  is  hardly  to 
be  conceived,  how  much  strength  and  authority  they  acquired  in 
a  very  short  time ;  for  their  city  not  only  became  the  capital  of 
Tuscany,  but  was  reckoned  among  the  principal  in  Italy;  and, 
indeed,  there  is  no  degree  of  grandeur  to  which  it  might  not  have 
attained,  if  it  had  not  been  obstructed  by  new  and  frequent 
factions" 

After  this  pompous  preamble,  one  can  scarce  read  without 
smiling  the  words  that  follow :  "  For  the  space  of  ten  years  they 
lived  under  this  form  of  government ;"  especially  when  it  appears 
that,  during  all  these  ten  years,  they  were  constantly  employed 
in  wars  abroad,  as  appears  by  the  following  words :  "  During 
which  time  they  forced  the  states  of  Pistoia,  Arezzo,  and  Siena, 
to  enter  into  a  confederacy  with  them  ;  and  in  their  return  with 


FLORENCE.  15 

their  army  from  the  last  city,  they  took  Volterra,  demolished 
several  castles,  and  brought  the  inhabitants  to  Florence." 

The  United  States  of  America  calculated  their  governments 
for  a  duration  of  more  than  ten  years.  There  is  little  doubt  to 
be  made,  that  they  might  have  existed  under  the  government  of 
state  congresses  for  ten  years,  while  they  were  constantly  at  war, 
and  all  the  active  and  idle  were  in  council  or  in  arms ;  but  we 
have  seen,  that  a  state  which  could  be  governed  by  a  provincial 
congress,  and,  indeed,  that  could  carry  on  a  war  without  any 
government  at  all,  while  danger  pressed,  has  lately,  in  time  of 
profound  peace,  and  under  a  good  government,  broke  out  in 
seditions.1 

This  democratical  government  in  Florence  could  last  no  longer; 
"  For  in  all  these  expeditions,"  says  Machiavel,  "  the  Guelphs  had 
the  chief  direction  and  command,  as  they  were  much  more  popu 
lar  than  the  Ghibellines,  who  had  behaved  themselves  so  impe 
riously  in  the  reign  of  Frederick,  when  they  had  the  upper  hand, 
that  they  were  become  very  odious  to  the  people ;  and  because 
the  party  of  the  church  was  generally  thought  to  favor  their 
attempts  to  preserve  their  liberty,  whilst  that  of  the  emperor 
endeavored  to  deprive  them  of  it. 

"  The  Ghibellines,  in  the  mean  time,  finding  their  authority  so 
dwindled,  were  not  a  little  discontented,  and  only  waited  for  a 
proper  opportunity  to  seize  upon  the  government  again.  They 
entered  into  correspondence  with  Manfred,  the  son  of  Frederick, 
King  of  Naples,  in  hopes  of  his  assistance  ;  but,  for  want  of  due 
secrecy  in  these  practices,  they  were  discovered  by  the  anziani, 
who  thereupon  summoned  the  family  of  the  Uberti  to  appear 
before  them;  but,  instead  of  obeying,  they  took  up  arms,  and 
fortified  themselves  in  their  houses ;  at  which  the  people  were  so 
incensed,  that  they  likewise  ran  to  arms,  and,  by  the  help  of  the 
Guelphs,  obliged  the  whole  party  of  the  Ghibellines  to  quit  Flo 
rence,  and  transport  themselves  to  Siena.  There  they  sued  to 
Manfred  for  aid,  who  granted  it ;  and  the  Guelphs  were  defeated 
upon  the  banks  of  the  river  Arbia,  with  such  slaughter,  by  the 
king's  forces  under  the  conduct  of  Farinata  de  gli  Uberti,  that 
those  who  escaped  from  it,  giving  up  their  city  for  lost,  fled 
directly  to  Lucca.  Manfred  had  given  the  command  of  the 

1  This  alludes  to  the  state  of  things  existing  in  Massachusetts  in  1786,  and  to 
the  insurrection  of  Shays  and  others. 


16  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

auxiliaries,  which  he  sent  to  the  Ghibellines,  to  Count  Giordano, 
a  soldier  of  no  small  reputation  in  those  times.  This  Giordano, 
after  his  victory,  immediately  advanced  with  the  Ghibellines  to 
Florence,  and  not  only  forced  the  city  to  acknowledge  Manfred 
for  its  sovereign,  but  deposed  the  magistrates,  and  either  entirely 
abrogated  or  altered  all  laws  and  customs  that  might  look  like 
remains  of  their  former  liberty ;  which  being  executed  with  great 
rigor  and  insolence,  inflamed  the  people  to  such  a  degree,  that  if 
they  did  not  love  the  Ghibellines  before,  they  now  became  their 
inveterate  and  implacable  enemies ;  which  aversion  continually 
increasing,  at  last  proved  their  utter  destruction." 

There  is  an  admirable  example  of  patriotism  at  this  period  of 
the  Florentine  history,  in  Farinata  Uberti,  who  successfully  and 
decidedly  opposed  a  plan  of  his  own  party  of  Ghibellines  and 
their  allies,  for  the  demolition  of  the  city.  He  preserved  it,  how 
ever,  only  for  his  enemies  the  Guelphs,  who,  driven  out  of  Lucca, 
went  to  Parma,  and  joined  their  friends  the  Guelphs  in  that  city, 
drove  out  the  Ghibellines,  and  had  their  confiscated  estates  for 
their  reward.  They  then  joined  the  pope  against  Manfred,  who 
was  defeated  and  slain. 

"  In  consequence  of  this  victory,  the  Guelphs  of  Florence  grew 
daily  bolder  and  more  vigorous,  and  the  party  of  the  Ghibellines 
weaker  and  weaker;  upon  which  Count  Guido  Novello,  and 
those  that  were  left  in  commission  with  him  to  govern  Florence, 
resolved  to  try,  by  lenity  and  gentler  treatment,  to  recover  the 
affections  of  the  people,  whom  they  found  they  had  exasperated 
to  the  last  degree  by  their  oppressive  and  violent  manner  of  pro 
ceeding.  To  cajole  and  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  people, 
they  chose  six-and-thirty  citizens  out  of  the  people  of  Florence, 
and  two  gentlemen  of  higher  rank  from  among  their  friends  at 
Bologna,  to  whom  they  gave  a  commission  to  reform  the  state. 
These  delegates  divided  the  city  into  distinct  arts  or  trades,  over 
which  they  constituted  a  magistrate,  who  was  to  administer  jus 
tice  to  all  who  were  in  his  department ;  and  to  every  art  a  sepa 
rate  banner  was  assigned,  under  which  they  might  assemble  in 
arms,  whenever  the  safety  of  the  public  required  it. 

"  But  Count  Guido  must  have  a  tax  to  maintain  his  soldiers. 
The  citizens  would  not  pay  it.  He  attempted  to  take  back  the 
new  privilege  of  magistrates  to  each  trade.  The  people  rose  in 
arms,  chose  Giovanni  Soldanieri  for  their  leader,  fought  the  Count 


FLORENCE.  17 

and  his  Ghibellines,  and  drove  them  out  of  the  city.  The  people, 
having  thus  got  the  upper  hand,  resolved  to  unite  the  city,  if 
possible,  and  recall  all  such  citizens  as  had  been  forced  to  leave 
their  homes,  whether  Guelphs  or  Ghibellines.  The  Guelphs 
returned,  after  six  years'  banishment;  the  late  attempt  of  the 
Ghibellines  was  pardoned,  and  they  were  suffered  to  come  back 
again ;  but  they  still  continued  very  odious  both  to  the  Guelphs 
and  the  people,  the  former  not  being  able  to  forgive  the  disgrace 
and  hardships  of  their  long  exile,  nor  the  latter  to  forget  their 
insolence  and  tyranny  when  they  had  the  government  in  their 
hands ;  so  that  their  ancient  animosities  were  not  yet  entirely 
extinguished,  either  on  one  side  or  the  other." 

The  wrangle  soon  came  to  a  crisis,  and  the  Ghibellines  fled 
out  of  the  city,  upon  the  interposition  of  a  foreign  force  from 
Charles,  King  of  Naples,  in  favor  of  the  Guelphs. 

"After  the  departure  of  the  Ghibellines,  the  Florentines  new- 
modelled  their  government,  and  chose  twelve  principal  magis 
trates,  who  were  to  continue  in  authority  no  longer  than  two 
months,  under  the  title  of  buoni  homini.  Next  in  power  under 
them  they  appointed  a  council  of  eighty  citizens,  which  they 
called  the  Credenza.  After  this,  a  hundred  and  eighty  more 
were  elected  out  of  the  people,  thirty  to  serve  for  each  sixth, 
who,  together  with  the  credenza  and  the  twelve  buoni  homini, 
were  called  the  General  Council.  Besides  which,  they  instituted 
another  council,  consisting  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  members, 
equally  chosen  out  of  the  nobility,  citizens,  and  commonalty, 
which  was  to  confirm  whatsoever  had  been  resolved  upon  by  the 
others,  and  to  act  jointly  with  them  in  disposing  of  the  public 
honors  and  offices  of  the  commonwealth." 

The  first  government  of  the  anziani  was  as  near  a  simple 
democracy  as  there  is  any  example  of;  we  found  it,  accordingly, 
ineffectual.  The  next,  of  buoni  homini,  was  no  better ;  and  that 
could  not  support  itself.  Now  we  come  to  a  new  plan,  which 
discovers,  in  the  authors  of  it,  a  sense  of  the  imperfection  of 
the  former  two,  and  an  attempt  to  obviate  its  inconveniences 
and  dangers ;  but  instead  of  a  judicious  plan,  founded  in  the 
natural  divisions  of  the  people,  it  is  a  jumble  which  common 
sense  would  see,  at  this  day,  must  fall  to  pieces.  The  buoni 
homini,  the  credenza,  and  the  thirty  of  the  hundred  and  eighty, 
wore  an  appearance  of  three  orders ;  but,  instead  of  being  kept 


18  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

separate,  they  are  all  huddled  together  in  the  general  council. 
Another  council  still,  of  a  hundred  and  twenty,  equally  chosen 
out  of  the  nobility,  citizens,  and  commonalty,  was  to  confirm 
whatever  was  resolved  on  by  the  others.  Here  are  two  branches, 
with  each  a  negative.  But  the  mistake  was,  that  the  aristocratical 
and  democratical  parts  of  the  community  were  mixed  in  each  of 
them ;  which  shows,  at  first  blush,  that  there  never  could  be  har 
mony  in  either,  both  being  naturally  and  necessarily  split  into 
two  factions.  But  a  greater  defect,  if  possible,  than  even  this, 
was  giving  the  executive  power,  the  power  of  disposing  of  public 
honors  and  offices,  to  a  joint  assemblage  of  buoni  homini,  ere- 
denza,  and  the  two  other  assemblies,  all  in  one.  The  consequence 
must  be,  that  although  every  one  of  these  four  orders  must  be 
divided  at  once  into  factions  for  the  loaves  and  fishes,  yet  the 
nobility,  by  their  superior  influence  in  elections,  would  have  the 
whole  power. 

Unhappy  Florence!  thou  art  destined  from  this  moment  to 
never-ending  factions,  seditions,  and  civil  wars!  Accordingly, 
we  read  in  the  next  page,  what  any  one  might  have  foreseen 
from  this  sketch  of  their  constitution,  "  that  the  government  of 
Florence  was  fallen  into  great  disorder  and  misrule;  for  the 
Guelph  nobility,  being  the  majority,  were  grown  so  insolent,  and 
stood  in  so  little  awe  of  the  magistracy,"  (and  how  could  they 
stand  in  awe  of  magistrates  whom  they  had  created,  and  who 
were  ever  at  their  devotion  ?)  "  that  though  many  murders,  and 
other  violences,  were  daily  committed,  yet  the  criminals  generally 
escaped  with  impunity,  through  favor  of  one  or  other  of  the 
nobles." 

"  In  order  to  restrain  these  enormities,  instead  of  twelve  go 
vernors,  they  resolved  to  have  fourteen,  seven  of  each  party,  who 
should  be  nominated  by  the  pope,  and  remain  in  office  one  year. 
Under  this  form  of  government,  in  which  they  had  been  obliged 
in  reality  to  submit  to  a  foreign  master,  they  continued  for  two 
years,  when  the  rage  of  faction  again  blazed  out.  They  rose  in 
arms,  and  put  the  city  under  a  new  regulation.  This  was  in 
1282,  when  the  companies  of  arts  and  trades  ordained,  that 
instead  of  fourteen  citizens,  three  only  should  govern,  and  that 
for  two  months,  who  were  to  be  chosen  indifferently  out  of  the 
nobility  or  commons,  provided  they  were  merchants,  or  professed 
any  art  or  occupation ;  and  these  were  called  priori.  Afterwards, 


FLORENCE.  19 

the  chief  magistracy  was  vested  in  six  persons,  one  for  each  ward, 
under  which  regulation  the  city  continued  till  the  year  1342."  1 

But  the  course  of  events  for  these  sixty  years  should  be  care 
fully  traced,  in  order  to  see  the  operation  of  such  a  form  of 
government,  even  in  a  single  city.  This  institution,  as  might  be 
expected,  occasioned  the  ruin  of  the  nobility,  who,  upon  divers 
provocations,  were  excluded,  and  entirely  suppressed  by  the  peo 
ple.  The  nobility,  indeed,  wTere  divided  among  themselves ;  and 
by  endeavoring  to  supplant  each  other,  and  aspiring  to  the  sole 
government  of  the  commonwealth,  they  quite  lost  all  share  in  it. 
The  priori  were  afterwards  distinguished  by  the  name  of  signori. 

"  There  remained  some  sparks  of  animosity  betwixt  the  nobi 
lity  and  commonalty,  which  are  incident  to  all  republics ;  for  one 
side  being  naturally  jealous  of  any  encroachment  upon  their 
liberty  and  legal  rights,  and  the  other  ambitious  to  rule  and  con 
trol  the  laws,  it  is  not  possible  they  should  ever  long  agree  toge 
ther.  This  humor,  however,  did  not  show  itself  in  the  nobility 
while  they  were  overawed  by  the  Ghibellines;  but  when  the 
latter  were  depressed,  it  began  to  appear,  and  the  people  were 
daily  injured  and  abused  in  such  a  manner,  that  neither  the  laws 
nor  the  magistracy  had  authority  enough  to  relieve  them  ;  as 
every  nobleman  supported  himself  in  his  insolence  by  the  number 
of  his  friends  and  relations,  both  against  the  power  of  the  signori 

1  "  Ce  fut  1'an  1282  que  les  Florentins  etablirent  la  forme  de  gouvernement 
qu'ils  ont  conserve  jusqu'a  la  chute  de  leur  republique,  et  qui,  supprimee  par 
Alexandre  de  Medicis,  le  27  Avril,  1532,  fut  retablie  par  Pierre  Leopold,  a  la  fin 
du  siecle  passe,  et  n'est  pas  meme  absolument  detruite  aujourd'hui.  Je  veux 
parler  des  prieurs  des  arts  et  de  la  liberte,  dont  le  college  fut  appele  la  seiyneu- 
rie.  Depuis  la  paix  int6rieure,  conclue  par  le  cardinal  Latino,  Florence  etoit 
gouvernee  par  quatorze  prud'hommes,  dont  huit  Guelfes  et  six  Gibelins ;  mais 
1'etat  paroissoit  souffrir  de  ce  que  le  pouvoir  executif  etoit  confie  a  un  conseil  trop 
nombreux  pour  pouvoir  jamais  etre  unanime ;  a  un  conseil  qui,  par  sa  compo 
sition  meme,  avoit  en  soi  les  principes  de  la  discorde,  et  ou  Pesprit  de  parti  don- 
noit  une  place.  La  jalousie  du  peuple  contre  les  grands  nuisoit  aussi  a  ce  college, 
dont  plusieurs  membres  etoient  gentilshommes ;  on  ne  cessoit  de  repeter  que  dans 
une  republique  marchande,  personne  ne  devoit  avoir  part  a  Padministration  si 
Iui-m6me  il  n'etoit  marchand.  Les  Florentins,  en  effet,  au  milieu  de  Juin,  1282, 
institue"rent  une  nouvelle  magistrature  toute  democratique ;  ils  en  nommerent  les 
membres,  prieurs  des  arts,  comme  pour  indiquer  que  1'assemblee  des  premiers 
citoyens  de  chaque  metier  devoit  representer  toute  la  republique.  A  la  premiere 
election,  on  ne  crut  pas  devoir  adrnettre  tous  les  metiers  indifferemment  a  la 
prerogative  de  donner  des  chefs  a  1'etat.  On  se  borna  d'abord  aux  trois  arts  que 
1'on  regarda  comme  les  plus  nobles ;  mais  des  la  seconde  election,  c'est-a-dire 
deux  mois  apres,  on  doubla  le  nombre  des  prieurs,  pour  qu'il  y  en  eut  un  de 
chaeun  des  arts  majeurs,  et  en  meme  temps  de  chacun  des  six  quartiers  de  la 
ville."  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  lltpubliques  Italiennes,  vol.  iv.  p.  52. 


20  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

and  the  captain  of  the  people.  The  heads  of  the  arts,  wishing 
to  remedy  so  great  an  evil,  provided  that  every  signory  should 
appoint  a  standard-bearer  of  justice,  out  of  the  people,  with  a 
thousand  men  divided  into  twenty  companies,  under  him,  who 
should  be  always  ready  with  their  standard  and  arms  whenever 
ordered  by  the  magistracy.  This  establishment  met  little  oppo 
sition,  on  account  of  the  jealousy  and  emulation  that  reigned 
among  the  nobility,  who  were  not  in  the  least  aware  that  it  was 
levelled  at  them,  till  they  felt  the  smart  of  it.  Then,  indeed,  they 
were  not  a  little  awed  by  it  for  some  time ;  but  in  a  while  they 
returned  to  the  commission  of  their  former  outrages ;  for  as  some 
of  them  always  found  means  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the 
signory,  they  had  it  in  their  power  to  prevent  the  standard-bearer 
from  executing  his  office.  Besides,  as  witnesses  were  always 
required  upon  any  accusation,  the  plaintiff  could  hardly  ever  find 
any  one  that  durst  give  evidence  against  the  nobility;  so  that  in 
a  short  time  Florence  was  involved  in  its  former  distractions,  and 
the  people  exposed  to  violence  and  oppression ;  as  justice  was 
grown  dilatory,  and  sentence,  though  passed,  seldom  or  never 
executed. 

"  The  people  not  knowing  what  course  to  take,  Giano  della 
Bella,  a  strenuous  patriot,  though  of  a  very  noble  family,  encour 
aged  the  heads  of  the  arts  once  more  to  reform  the  city.  By  his 
advice  it  was  enacted,  that  the  gonfalonier  should  always  reside 
with  the  signori,  and  have  four  thousand  armed  men  under  his 
command.  They  also  entirely  excluded  the  nobility  out  of  that 
council  of  the  signori,  and  made  a  law  that  all  accessaries  or 
abettors  should  be  liable  to  the  same  punishment  with  those  that 
were  principals  in  any  crime,  and  that  common  fame  should  be 
sufficient  evidence  to  convict  them.  By  these  laws,  which  were 
called  Li  Ordinamenti  della  Giustizia,"1  (but  which  were  in  reality 

1  "  Pour  le  maintien  de  la  liberte  et  de  la  justice,  elle  sanctionna  la  jurispru 
dence  la  plus  tyrannique  et  la  plus  injuste.  Trente-sept  families,  les  plus  nobles 
et  les  plus  respectables  de  Florence,  furent  exclues  a  jamais  du  priorat,  sans  qu'il 
leur  fut  permis  de  recouvrer  les  droits  de  cite,  en  se  faisant  immatriculer  dans 
quelque  corps  de  metier,  ou  en  exer^ant  quelque  profession.  Cette  exclusion  fut 
fondee  sur  la  faveur  que  les  nobles,  disoit  on,  accordoient  toujours  aux  autres 
nobles ;  c'etoit  eux  qu'on  accusoit  d'avoir  paralys6  la  seigneurie,  et  Ton  preten- 
doit  que  jamais  elle  n'avoit  deploye  de  vigueur,  lorsque  quelque  gentilhomme 
siegoit  parmi  les  prieurs.  La  seigneurie  fut  de  plus  autorisee  a  inserer  de  nou- 
veaux  noms  dans  cette  liste  d'exclusion,  toutes  les  fois  que  quelque  autre  famille,. 
en  marchant  sur  les  traces  de  la  noblesse,  meriteroit  d'etre  punie  comme  elle. 
Les  membres  de  ccs  trente-sep'  families  furent  designes,  nieme  dans  les  lois,  par 


FLORENCE.  21 

as  tyrannical  as  the  edicts  of  any  despot  could  be,)  "  the  people 
regained  great  weight  and  authority.  But  Giano  being  looked 
upon  by  the  nobility  as  the  author  of  these  laws  to  bridle  their 
power,  became  very  odious,  not  only  to  them,  but  to  the  richest 
of  the  commonalty." 

As  well  he  might,  for  laws  more  oppressive  and  destructive  of 
liberty  could  not  have  been  made.  Tyrannical  as  they  were, 
however,  they  were  not  enough  so  for  the  people.  "  For  upon 
the  trial  of  Corso  Donati,  a  nobleman,  for  a  murder,  although  he 
was  acquitted  even  under  these  new  laws,  the  people  were  en 
raged,  and  ran  to  arms,  and  demolished  the  magistrate's  house, 
instead  of  applying  to  the  signori.  The  whole  city  exceedingly 
resented  this  outrage  upon  all  law  and  government ;  the  blame 
of  it  was  laid  upon  Giano,  and  he  was  accused  before  the  magis 
trates  as  an  encourager  of  insurrection.  While  his  cause  was 
depending,  the  people  took  arms  to  defend  him  against  the 
signori.  Giano  went  voluntarily  into  banishment,  to  appease 
this  tumult. 

"  The  nobility  then  petitioned  the  signori,  that  the  severity  of 
the  laws  against  them  might  be  mitigated.  As  soon  as  this 
petition  was  publicly  known,  the  commons,  apprehending  the 
signori  would  comply  with  it,  immediately  rose  in  a  tumultuous 
manner;  so  that  ambition  on  one  side,  and  jealousy  on  the  other, 
at  last  occasioned  an  open  rupture  between  them,  and  both  sides 
were  prepared  for  battle ;  but  by  the  interposition  and  mediation 
of  some  prudent  men,  whose  arguments  with  both  parties  were 
very  judicious,  the  people  at  last  consented  that  no  accusation 
should  be  admitted  against  a  nobleman,  without  sufficient  evi 
dence  to  support  it. 

"  Both  parties  laid  down  their  arms,  but  retained  their  jealou 
sies,  and  began  soon  to  raise  forces,  and  fortify  themselves  as 
fast  as  they  could.  The  people  thought  fit  to  new-model  the 
government,  and  reduce  the  number  of  the  signori,  as  they 
suspected  some  of  that  body  to  be  too  favorably  inclined  to  the 
nobility. 

"A  momentary  tranquillity  succeeded;  but  the  sparks  of  jea 
lousy  and  envy  still  remained  betwixt  the  nobility  and  people, 

les  noms  de  grands  et  de  magnate ;  et  pour  la  premiere  fois,  on  vit  un  titre 
d'honneur  devenir  non-seulement  un  fardeau  on6reux,  mais  une  punition."  Sis- 
mondi,  liepubliques  Italiennes,  vol.  iv.  pp.  63,  64. 


22  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

which  soon  broke  out,  on  occasion  of  a  quarrel  between  two 
families,  the  Cerchi  and  Donati,  both  considerable  for  their  riches, 
nobility,  and  dependents.  The  signori  were  under  no  small 
apprehensions  that  the  whole  city  would  become  engaged  in  the 
dispute,  and  hourly  expected  the  two  parties  would  openly  attack 
each  other,  as  soon  afterwards  happened,  and  a  skirmish  ensued, 
in  which  many  were  wounded  on  both  sides.  The  whole  city, 
commons  as  well  as  nobility,  divided  upon  it ;  nor  did  the  conta 
gion  confine  itself  to  the  city  alone,  but  infected  all  the  country. 
So  ineffectual  was  this  contemptible  government  of  the  signori 
to  the  suppression  of  this  animosity,  that  the  pope  was  applied 
to.  He  sent  his  nuncio  to  no  purpose,  and  then  put  the  city 
under  an  interdict;  but  this  answered  no  end  but  to  increase  the 
confusion ;  and  frequent  battles  took  place,  till  the  whole  city 
took  arms,  neither  the  power  of  the  magistracy,  nor  the  authority 
of  the  laws,  being  able  to  restrain  the  fury  of  the  multitude. 
The  wisest  and  best  of  the  citizens  were  in  great  terror;  and  the 
Donati,  being  the  weaker  party,  not  a  little  doubtful  of  their 
safety." 

Such  is  the  effect  of  a  government  of  all  authority  in  one 
centre.  Here  all  was  concentrated  in  the  signori,  chosen  by  the 
people  frequently  enough  ;  yet  although  the  nobility  were  arbi 
trarily  excluded  from  that  council,  those  who  were  chosen  were 
indebted  for  their  elections,  probably  to  those  very  nobles,  and 
chiefly  to  the  Donati  and  Cerchi. 

"  The  Donati  were  the  minority,  upon  the  whole,  and  there 
fore  had  great  reason  to  be  doubtful  of  their  safety.  It  was 
agreed,  at  a  meeting  betwixt  Corso  Donati,  the  heads  of  the 
Neri  family,  and  the  captains  of  the  arts,1  to  solicit  the  pope 

1  This  is  an  error  in  translation  by  the  author,  growing  out  of  a  misconception 
of  the  office  referred  to.  The  words  in  the  original  are  "  Capitani  di  parte" 
"  They  were  the  elective  heads  of  the  Guelph  party,  three  in  number."  Italian 
Republics  —  Lardner's  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  p.  135,  note. 

Lord  Brougham  describes  them  as  the  heads  of  "  a  complete  party  govern 
ment  within  the  government  of  the  state.  The  Guelphs  chose  every  two  months 
their  consuls,  called  party  captains,  who  had  their  secret  council  of  fourteen 
members,  their  general  council  of  sixty,  three  priors,  a  treasurer,  and  a  prose 
cutor  of  Ghibellines.  There  never  certainly  was  an  instance  of  any  party  feud 
being  in  any  country  so  disciplined  and  so  wielded.  The  vigorous  administra 
tion,  not  only  of  its  own  affairs,  but  those  of  the  republic  which  it  governed, 
was  the  result.  Had  the  Jacobin  club  at  Paris  been  a  more  regular  body,  and 
continued  to  govern  in  quiet  times,  it  would  have  formed  a  second  instance  of 
the  same  sort."  Political  Philosophy,  part  2,  p.  346. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  elements  of  an  organization  in  many  respects 


FLORENCE.  23 

to  send  some  person  of  royal  extraction  to  reform  the  city." 
Here  nature  breaks  out,  in  spite  of  all  attempts  to  s'tifle  it.  A 
royal  dignity  is  the  most  obvious  thought,  to  extinguish  animo 
sities  between  nobles  and  commons.  In  this  case,  the  captains 
of  the  arts,  that  is,  the  people,  perceived  it,  as  well  as  Corso 
and  the  Neri,  the  contending  nobles.  This  meeting,  and  the 
result  of  it,  was  notified  to  the  signori  by  the  other  party,  who 
represented  it  as  a  conspiracy  against  the  public  liberty.  Both 
sides,  however,  were  in  arms  again,  and  Dante,  who  was  one  of 
the  signori,  had  the  courage  to  advise  that  sovereign  assembly  to 
arm  the  people  ;  and  they,  being  joined  by  great  numbers  out  of 
the  country,  found  themselves  able  to  force  the  chiefs  of  each  party 
to  lay  down  their  arms.  They  assumed  an  appearance  of  dig 
nity,  banished  Corso  and  the  Neri,  and,  to  show  their  impar 
tiality,  several  of  the  Bianchi. 

"  But  this  government  had  no  permanent  strength ;  the  Bi 
anchi,  upon  plausible  pretences,  were  soon  permitted  to  return. 
Corso,  and  his  associates,  obtained  the  same  indulgence  ;  but, 
instead  of  being  quiet,  they  went  to  Rome,  to  persuade  the  pope 
to  appoint  a  person  of  royal  extraction,  as  they  had  before  peti 
tioned  his  holiness  in  their  letters.  Charles  of  Valois,  brother 
of  the  King  of  France,  was  sent  accordingly  by  the  pope. 
Though  the  Bianchi  family,  who  then  had  the  upper  hand  in 
Florence,  looked  upon  him  with  an  evil  eye;  yet  as  he  was 
patron  of  the  Guelphs,  and  sent  by  the  pope,  they  durst  not 
oppose  his  coming ;  on  the  contrary,  to  make  him  their  friend, 
they  gave  him  full  power  to  regulate  the  city  as  he  thought  best. 
He  caused  his  friends  to  arm  themselves.  This  made  the  people 
so  jealous  that  he  intended  to  deprive  them  of  what  they  called 
their  liberties,  that  they  took  arms. 

"  The  Cerchi,  and  the  heads  of  the  Bianchi,  having  had  the 
chief  government  of  the  city  some  time  in  their  hands,  and 
behaved  with  great  arrogance,  were  become  generally  odious; 
which  encouraged  Corso,  and  others  of  the  Neri  who  had  fled,  to 
return  upon  an  assurance  that  Charles  and  the  captains  of  the 
party  were  their  friends,  and  would  support  them.  Accordingly, 
whilst  the  city  was  thus  alarmed  with  the  apprehensions  ol 

not  unlike  this,  at  some  time  or  other,  in  the  United  States,  the  concentration 
of  which  has  been  thus  far  counteracted  only  by  the  increasing  territorial  surface 
of  the  country. 


24  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Charles's  designs,  Corso,  with  all  his  associates,  and  many  other 
of  their  followers,  made  their  entry  into  it  without  resistance ; 
and  though  Veri  de  Cerchi  was  called  upon  to  oppose  them,  he 
declined  it,  and  said,  '  The  people  against  whom  they  came, 
should  themselves  chastise  them,  as  they  were  likely  to  be  the 
greatest  sufferers  by  them.'  But  the  contrary  happened  ;  for 
instead  of  chastising  them,  they  received  them  with  open  arms, 
whilst  Veri  was  forced  to  fly  for  his  safety.  Corso  having  forced 
his  entrance  at  the  Porta  Pinti,  drew  up  and  made  a  stand  near 
his  own  house ;  and  being  joined  by  a  great  number  of  his 
friends  and  others,  assembled  in  hopes  of  a  change  of  govern 
ment,  he  released  all  prisoners,  civil  and  criminal ;  divested  the 
signori  of  their  authority ;  chose  new  magistrates,  all  of  the  party 
of  the  Neri,  out  of  the  people,  to  supply  their  places  ;  and  plun 
dered  the  houses  of  the  Bianchi.  The  Cerchi,  and  the  heads  of 
their  faction,  seeing  the  people,  for  the  most  part,  their  enemies, 
and  Charles  not  their  friend,  fled  out  of  the  city,  and  in  their 
turn  implored  the  interposition  of  the  pope,  though  they  would 
not  listen  to  his  exhortations  before." 

Such  is  the  series  of  alternate  tragedy,  comedy,  and  farce, 
which  was  called  the  liberty  of  Florence  during  this  "  collection 
of  all  authority  into  one  centre,"  the  signori ;  in  which  no  man 
of  any  party  could  be  one  moment  secure  of  his  life,  property,  or 
liberty,  amidst  continual  exaltations  and  depressions  of  parties, 
in  favor  of  different  noble  families.  Although  those  nobles  were 
all  excluded  from  the  government,  the  exclusion  was  but  a  form. 
Nearly  all  the  power  was  in  their  hands,  and  the  signori  in 
office  were  only  alternate  tools  of  one  noble  family  or  another. 
And  thus  it  must  ever  be  ;  exclude  the  aristocratical  part  of  the 
community  by  laws  as  tyrannical  as  you  will,  they  will  still 
govern  the  state  underhand ;  the  persons  elected  into  office  will 
be  their  tools,  and,  in  constant  fear  of  them,  will  behave  like 
mere  puppets  danced  upon  their  wires.  But  our  humorous 
entertainment  is  not  yet  ended. 

"  The  pope  now,  at  the  intercession  of  the  Cerchi,  sent  a 
legate,  Acqua- Sparta,  to  Florence,  who  made  an  accommoda 
tion  betwixt  the  Cerchi  and  Donati,  and  fortified  it  by  several 
intermarriages  between  them.  But  this  spiritual  policy,  though 
deep  and  sound,  did  not  answer  his  end ;  for  when  he  insisted 
that  the  Bianchi  should  share  in  the  chief  offices  of  the  common- 


FLORENCE.  25 

wealth,  that  was  refused  by  the  Neri,  who  were  in  full  posses 
sion  of  them.  Upon  this  the  legate  left  the  city  as  dissatisfied  as 
ever,  and  excommunicated  it  a  second  time  for  its  contumacy. 

"  The  Neri,  however,  seeing  their  old  enemies  in  their  bosom 
again,  were  not  a  little  afraid  they  would  use  all  means  to  ruin 
them  in  order  to  recover  their  former  authority ;  and  both  par 
ties  were  still  discontented,  and  fresh  occasions  of  discord  soon 
occurred.  Niccolo  de  Cerchi  and  Simon,  a  son  of  Corso  Donati, 
met  and  fought.  The  battle  was  so  sharp  and  bloody  that 
Niccolo  was  killed  upon  the  spot,  and  Simon  so  desperately 
wounded  that  he  died  the  same  night." 

This  accident,  as  it  is  called,  though  an  event  springing 
necessarily  from  the  form  of  government  and  state  of  parties, 
threw  the  whole  city  into  an  uproar  again  ;  "  and  although  the 
Neri  were  the  most  in  fault,  as  Simon  assaulted  Niccolo,  yet 
they  were  screened  by  the  magistracy,  and,  before  judgment 
could  be  obtained,  a  conspiracy  was  discovered  betwixt  the 
Bianchi  and  Pietro  Ferrante,  a  nobleman  who  attended  Charles 
of  Valois,  with  whom  they  had  been  tampering,  to  persuade  his 
master  to  reinstate  them  in  the  government.  The  plot  was 
detected  by  some  letters  from  the  Cerchi  to  Pietro;  though  it 
was  the  common  opinion  they  were  forged  by  the  Donati,  to 
wipe  off  the  odium  they  had  incurred  by  the  murder  of  Niccolo 
de  Cerchi.  Nevertheless  all  the  family  of  the  Cerchi,  with  many 
of  their  followers  of  the  Bianchi  party,  and  among  the  rest  Dante 
the  poet,*  were  immediately  sent  into  banishment,  their  estates 
confiscated  and  their  houses  demolished  by  the  strength  of  those 
forged  letters  ;  after  which,  their  party,  with  many  of  the 
Ghibellines  who  had  joined  them,  were  dispersed  in  different 
places. 

"  The  quiet  that  ensued  was  very  short ;  for  Corso  Donati 
was  dissatisfied  that  he  did  not  enjoy  the  degree  of  authority  in 
Florence  he  thought  due  to  his  merit,  the  government  being  in 
the  hands  of  the  people,  and  conducted  by  those  who  were  in 
all  respects  much  inferior  to  him.  To  varnish  over  his  designs 
and  revenge  with  a  fair  pretext,  he  accused  several  citizens  who 
had  been  entrusted  with  public  money  with  embezzling  it,  and 
many  were  ignorant  and  credulous  enough  to  believe  that  Corso 

*  1298.     Nerli,  p.  9. 
VOL.    V.  3 


26  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

did  this  out  of  pure  concern  and  affection  for  his  country.  The 
persons  thus  calumniated  were  in  favor  with  the  people,  and 
stood  upon  their  justification ;  and  after  many  law  suits  and  long 
litigations,  these  disputes  grew  to  such  a  height  that  it  became 
absolutely  necessary  to  take  up  arms.  On  one  side  were  Corso 
and  Lottieri,  Bishop  of  Florence,  with  many  of  the  nobility  and 
some  of  the  commons ;  on  the  other  were  the  signori  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  people ;  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  affrays 
and  skirmishes  in  every  part  of  the  city." 

In  such  a  "  right  constitution  "  as  this,  such  a  government  of 
"  the  people's  successive  sovereign  assemblies,"  as  the  signori 
were,  the  body  of  the  nation  never  can  be  unanimous ;  all  the 
most  wealthy,  best-born,  best-educated,  and  ablest  men,  will 
unanimously  despise  and  detest  the  government,  except  a  few 
artful  hypocrites  among  them,  who  will  belie  their  judgments 
and  feelings  for  the  sake  of  a  present  popularity  for  some  private 
ends.  Those  who  thus  hate  the  form  of  government  will  have 
numerous  connections,  relations,  and  dependents  among  the 
people,  who  will  follow  them ;  so  that  there  never  can  be  more 
than  a  small  majority  of  the  people  on  the  side  of  government. 
Hence  its  constant  weakness  ;  hence  it  is  a  mere  football  con 
tinually  kicked  from  one  side  to  another  by  three  or  four  princi 
pal  families.  Thus  it  appeared  in  this  case. 

"  The  signori,  feeling  their  weakness,  and  perceiving  them 
selves  in  great  danger,  utterly  unable  to  punish  crimes,  support 
their  friends,  or  curb  their  enemies,  were  obliged  to  send  to 
Lucca,  a  foreign  state,  for  aid,  and  were  fortunate  enough  to 
find  all  the  people  of  that  city  willing  to  come  to  their  assist 
ance.  The  tumults  were  composed  for  a  time,  but  the  signori 
and  people  were  too  feeble  to  punish  the  author  of  the  disturb 
ance." 

This  interval  of  tranquillity  was  no  more  durable  than  former 
ones. 

"  The  pope  again  sent  his  legate,  Niccolo  da  Prato,*  who 
ingratiated  himself  with  the  people,  so  that  they  gave  him  a 
commission  to  new-model  the  city.  In  order  to  obtain  the 
recall  of  the  Ghibelline  faction  from  banishment,  he  flattered  the 
people  by  restoring  their  ancient  companies,  which  added  much 

*  1303.     Nerli,  p.  9. 


FLORENCE.  27 

to  their  strength  and  diminished  that  of  the  nobility.  But  the 
project  of  restoring  the  exiles  was  obnoxious  to  the  signori,  who 
forced  the  legate  out  of  the  city,  which  he  put  under  an  inter 
dict  at  his  departure,  and  left  in  the  utmost  confusion. 

"  Two  factions  not  being  sufficient,  the  city  was  now  divided 
and  subdivided  into  several ;  as  those  of  the  people  and  nobility, 
the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  the  Bianchi  and  the  Neri;  and 
some  who  wished  for  the  return  of  the  exiles,  being  disappointed 
in  their  hopes,  now  the  legate  was  gone,  grew  clamorous  and 
outrageous,  so  that  the  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar,  and  many 
skirmishes  ensued.  Those  that  were  most  active  in  raising  this 
clamor  were  the  Medici  and  Giugni,  who  had  openly  sided  with 
the  legate  in  favor  of  the  exiles." 

This  is  the  first  mention  made  of  that  family  of  Medici,  who 
acted  so  distinguished  a  part  afterwards,  finally  subverted  the 
commonwealth,  and  changed  it  into  an  absolute  sovereignty 
under  the  title  of  a  grand  dukedom,  a  form  it  still  wears. 

Let  us  look  back  to  1282,  when  this  government  of  priori  or 
signori,  chosen  every  two  months  by  the  people,  was  established  ; 
from  thence  to  1304  is  only  twenty-two  years,  in  which  we  see 
a  constant  quarrel  between  the  nobility  and  people,  and  between 
one  party  of  nobles  and  another,  and  the  neighboring  states  of 
Naples,  Rome,  and  Lucca,  in  turn,  called  in  to  aid  the  different 
factions  ;  alternate  murders,  banishments,  confiscations,  and 
civil  wars,  as  one  party  and  the  other  prevailed ;  and,  instead  of 
a  government  and  a  system  of  justice  and  liberty,  constant 
anarchy,  and  the  perpetual  rolling  of  a  mob. 

In  this  year,  1304,  Florence  was  visited  in  this  lamentable 
manner  with  fire  and  sword.  A  great  fire  broke  out,  and  was 
ascribed,  as  usual  in  such  times,  by  some  to  accident,  and  by 
some  to  party  design.  Corso  Donati  was  the  only  person  of 
any  distinction  who  did  not  take  up  arms  ;  he  thought  that 
when  all  parties  grew  tired  of  fighting  he  was  the  more  likely  to 
be  called  in  arbitrator  to  decide  their  differences.  They  did 
indeed  lay  down  their  arms,  but  more  out  of  weariness  of  their 
miseries,  and  that  they  might  have  time  to  take  breath,  than 
from  any  real  desire  of  being  reunited  and  living  in  peace.  It 
was  only  stipulated  that  the  exiles  should  not  be  suffered  to 
return,  which  was  agreed  to  by  those  that  favored  them,  merely 
because  they  proved  to  be  the  weaker  side. 


28  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  New  disturbances  arising,  the  pope  was  advised  by  his 
legate  to  summon  to  Rome  twelve  of  the  principal  malcontents 
of  Florence.  They  readily  obeyed  the  summons,  and  among 
them  was  Corso  Donati.  As  soon  as  they  were  set  out  upon  their 
journey,  the  legate  acquainted  the  exiles  that  now  was  their 
time  to  return  to  Florence,  as  the  city  was  then  clear  of  the 
only  men  that  had  authority  enough  to  oppose  their  entrance. 
Drawing  together  what  forces  they  could,  they  immediately 
marched  arid  entered  the  city  ;  but  those  very  citizens,  who  but 
a  little  before,  when  they  petitioned  in  the  most  humble  and 
submissive  manner  to  be  admitted,  had  exerted  themselves  in  the 
most  strenuous  manner  for  their  return,  now  they  saw  them 
approach  in  a  hostile  manner,  were  the  first  that  took  up  arms 
against  them,  and  joined  with  the  people  to  drive  them  back." 

One  is,  however,  astonished  at  the  reflection  of  Machiavel, — 
"  Such  was  the  spirit  of  patriotism  amongst  them  in  those  days 
that  they  cheerfully  gave  up  their  private  interests  for  the  public 
good,"  —  when  every  page  of  his  history  shows  that  the  public 
good  was  sacrificed  every  day  by  all  parties  to  their  private 
interests,  friendships,  and  enmities. 

"  After  the  exiles  were  repulsed,  the  citizens  relapsed  into  their 
former  distractions ;  and  after  much  violence  the  governors  of 
the  commonwealth  reestablished  the  companies  of  the  people, 
and  restored  the  colors  under  which  the  arts  had  formerly  been 
used  to  assemble.  Their  captains  were  called  standard-bearers 
of  the  companies  and  colleagues  of  the  signori,  and  were  directed 
not  only  to  assist  the  signori  in  times  of  peace  with  their  coun 
sel,  but  to  support  and  defend  them  by  dint  of  arms  in  all  exi 
gencies  and  commotions.  To  assist  the  two  judges  who  had 
been  constituted  in  the  beginning  of  their  state,  they  appointed 
an  officer  called  il  esecutore  or  sheriff,  who  was  to  act  in  con 
junction  with  the  standard-bearers  and  see  their  orders  carried 
into  execution,  whenever  the  nobility  should  be  guilty  of  any 
enormity  or  act  of  oppression. 

"  The  pope  died,  the  eleven  citizens  returned  with  Corso, 
whose  restless  ambition  occasioned  such  troubles.  In  order  to 
make  himself  popular,  he  constantly  opposed  the  nobility  in  all 
their  schemes,  and  which  way  soever  he  observed  the  people  to 
incline,  he  turned  all  his  authority  to  support  them  in  it  and  gain 
their  affection ;  so  that  in  all  contests  and  divisions,  or  when 


FLORENCE.  29 

they  had  any  extraordinary  point  to  carry,  they  always  resorted 
to  him  and  put  themselves  under  his  directions." 

Machiavel  indeed  observes,  "  that  all  might  now  have  lived  in 
peace,  if  the  restless  ambition  of  Corso  had  not  occasioned  fresh 
troubles."  But  in  this  Machiavel  is  mistaken  ;  if  Corso  had  not 
existed,  the  people  would  have  found  some  other  leader  and  con 
fidant.  When  the  people  feel  that  the  government  is  unable  or 
unwilling  to  protect  them  against  the  oppressions  of  the  nobles, 
they  always  seek  out  a  Cassius,  Maelius,  Manlius,  or  Corso,  to 
assist  the  old  or  to  erect  a  new  government  that  will  be  able  and 
willing  to  protect  them.  It  is  the  defect  in  the  government  and 
the  wants  of  the  people,  that  excite  and  inspirit  the  ambition  of 
private  men.  To  be  sure,  the  man  of  any  distinction  who 
listens  to  the  complaints  of  the  people  in  such  cases,  whether 
from  ambition  or  humanity,  always  creates  for  himself  much 
hatred  and  envy  among  the  most  considerable  citizens. 

"  In  this  instance,  these  passions  increased  to  such  a  degree 
that  the  faction  of  the  Neri  divided  and  quarrelled  among  them 
selves.  To  alienate  the  affections  of  the  people  from  Corso,  they 
gave  out,  as  the  aristocracy  always  does  in  such  cases,  that  he 
secretly  designed  to  seize  upon  the  government  and  make  him 
self  king;  and  his  magnificent  manner  of  living,  and  marriage 
into  the  family  of  Faggivola,  head  of  the  Bianchi  and  Ghibel- 
lines,  made  it  easily  believed. 

"  Encouraged  by  this,  his  enemies  took  up  arms  against  him, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  people,  instead  of  appearing  in  his 
defence,  forsook  him  and  joined  his  adversaries.  He  was 
impeached,  refused  to  obey  the  summons,  and  was  declared  a 
contumacious  rebel.  Between  the  accusation  and  the  sentence 
there  was  not  the  interval  of  more  than  two  hours.  A  civil  war 
ensued;  many  were  killed  on  both  sides.  After  a  furious 
defence  Corso  threw  himself  from  his  horse  and  was  killed. 
Such  was  the  unfortunate  end  *  of  Corso  Donati,  to  whom  his 
country  and  the  Neri  owed  much  both  of  their  good  and  bad 
fortune,  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  that  Florence  ever  pro 
duced." 

But  Machiavel  should  have  laid  the  blame  upon  the  constitu 
tion,  not  upon  the  restless  disposition  or  turbulent  spirit  of 

*  Nerli,  p.  9. 
3* 


30  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Corso ;  because  it  is  impossible  for  a  man  of  Corso's  genius, 
valor,  and  activity,  in  such  a  government,  not  to  be  restless  and 
turbulent ;  he  is  never  safe  himself,  and  large  bodies  of  people 
are  continually  flattering  and  soliciting  him,  while  others  are 
threatening  and  persecuting  him.  No  nation  has  a  right  to 
blame  such  a  citizen  until  it  has  established  a  form  of  govern 
ment  that  is  capable  of  protecting  him  on  one  side,  and  the  peo 
ple  against  him  on  the  other.  This  flimsy  sovereignty  of  the 
signori  was  inadequate  to  either  purpose. 

After  the  death  of  Corso  the  exiles  from  Florence  excited 
Henry  *  the  emperor  to  a  war  against  that  city  for  their  restora 
tion  ;  the  magistrates  applied  to  Robert,  King  of  Naples,  and 
gave  him  the  government  of  the  city  for  five  years  to  defend  it 
and  protect  them.  This  storm,  after  raging  some  time,  blew 
over  by  the  death  of  the  emperor,  f  The  Ghibellines  then,  under 
the  command  of  Faggivola,  renewed  the  war  by  making  them 
selves  masters  of  Pisa  and  committing  depredations  on  the 
Florentine  territories.  The  Florentines  fought  him  and  were 
totally  defeated.  They  then  applied  to  King  Robert  J  for 
another  general ;  he  sent  them  the  Count  di  Andria,  whose  bad 
conduct,  "  added,"  says  Machiavel,  "  to  the  impatient  temper  of 
the  Florentines,  which  is  soon  tired  with  any  form  of  govern 
ment,  and  ready  to  fall  into  factions  upon  every  accident,"  occa 
sioned  the  city  to  divide  again.  Machiavel's  severity  ought, 
however,  to  have  been  applied  to  the  form  of  government,  not  to 
the  temper  of  the  people,  the  latter  being  but  the  natural  and 
necessary  effect  of  the  former.  In  such  a  government  the  people 
have  no  protection  or  security ;  they  are  continually  oppressed, 
vexed,  and  irritated  by  one  faction  or  another,  one  ally  or  enemy, 
or  another,  one  aspiring  citizen  or  family,  or  another,  against 
whose  usurpations,  as  the  constitution  affords  no  redress,  they 
are  obliged  to  recur  to  arms  and  a  change  of  government. 

"  The  Florentines  in  this  case  sought  assistance  from  France 
and  Germany,  but  could  obtain  none ;  they  were  determined, 
however,  to  carry  their  point,  took  arms,  drove  the  Count  out  of 
the  city,  and  sent  for  one  Lando,  of  Agobbio,  and  made  him 
their  esecutore,  or  rather  dictator  or  executioner,  §  with  full 

*  Nerli,  p.  10.  f  Nerli,  p.  10. 

J  Nerli,  p.  10.     Muratori,  Annal.  torn.  viii.  p.  40. 

§  Nerli,  p.  10.     "  Bargello"  sheriff  or  executive  officer  of  the  law.     Machia- 


FLORENCE.  31 

power  over  all  the  citizens.  Lando  being  naturally  rapacious 
and  cruel  went  about  the  city  with  a  gang  of  armed  men  at  his 
heels,  hanging  up  one  man  and  then  another,  as  those  who  had 
sent  for  him  gave  him  directions ;  and  at  last  to  such  a  height 
of  power  did  he  arrive  by  the  dissensions  of  the  citizens,  as  to 
coin  bad  money  with  the  Florentine  stamp,  which  nobody  had 
courage  enough  to  oppose.  Miserable  indeed  was  the  condition 
of  the  city  at  that  time,  which  neither  the  bitter  remembrance  of 
the  evils  produced  by  their  former  dissensions,  nor  the  dread  of 
a  foreign  enemy  at  their  gates,  nor  the  authority  of  a  king,  was 
sufficient  to  keep  united,  even  though  their  possessions  were 
daily  ravaged  and  plundered  abroad  by  Faggivola,  and  at  home 
by  Lando. 

"  The  nobility,  most  of  the  considerable  commons,  and  all  the 
Guelphs  took  the  king's  side,  and  opposed  Lando  and  those  who 
supported  him ;  and  to  free  themselves  from  so  ignominious  a 
yoke  they  wrote  to  King  Robert  privately,  and  entreated  him  to 
appoint  Count  Guido  his  lieutenant  at  Florence,  which  he 
readily  complied  with  ;  and  the  other  party,  though  they  had  the 
signori  on  their  side,  durst  not  venture  to  oppose  a  man  of  so 
established  a  reputation.  But  the  Count  soon  found  he  had  very 
little  authority  in  the  city,  as  the  magistracy  and  the  standard- 
bearers  of  the  several  companies  openly  favored  Lando  and  his 
friends.  Soon  afterwards  the  citizens  were  reconciled  and 
united  under  the  king  by  the  friendly  counsel  of  his  daughter-in- 
law,  and  Lando,  deprived  of  his  authority,  was  sent  back  to 
Agobbio  satiated  with  blood  and  rapine.*  The  government  of 
the  King  of  Naples  was  continued  three  years  longer ;  and,  as 
the  seven  who  were  then  in  the  signori  were  all  of  Lando's 
party,  six  others  were  added  to  them  of  the  king's,  and  they  con 
tinued  thirteen  for  some  time,  but  were  afterwards  reduced  to 
seven  again. 

"  About  this  time  Castruccio  Castracani  f  drove  out  Faggi 
vola,  and  succeeded  him  in  the  government  of  Lucca  and  Pisa. 
The  Florentines  had  enough  to  do  to  obstruct  the  growth  of  the 
power  of  this  spirited  and  fortunate  youth  at  the  head  of  the 

vel  here  introduces  a  characteristic  of  popular  governments,  which  the  author  has 
omitted  to  express :  "  Cercando  d'uno  per  adorarlo,"  "  seeking  after  some  one  to 
worship,  they  sent,"  &c. 

*  Nerli,  P.  11.  f  Ibid. 


32  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Ghibelline  interest,  and  to  defend  themselves  against  him. 
That  the  signori  in  this  war  might  proceed  with  maturer 
deliberation  and  execute  with  greater  authority,  they  chose 
twelve  citizens  whom  they  called  buoni  homini,  without  whose 
advice  and  consent  the  signori  were  not  to  pass  any  act  of 
importance.  But  this  effort  of  nature  to  form  a  balance  to  this 
simple  government  was  of  short  duration ;  the  dominion  of 
King  Robert  expired,  and  the  government  once  more  reverted  to 
the  citizens,  who  set  up  the  same  form  of  magistracy  that  had 
been  formerly  instituted.  The  whole  city  was  soon  obliged  to 
march  against  Castruccio  to  the  relief  of  Prato,  and  a  proclama 
tion  was  issued  by  the  signori,  that  every  exile  of  the  Guelph 
party  who  came  in  to  the  relief  of  Prato  should  afterwards  have 
liberty  to  return  home.  This  policy  added  four  thousand  men 
to  their  army,  which  before  consisted  of  twenty  thousand  foot 
and  fifteen  hundred  horse.  Castruccio,  afraid  of  so  formidable 
a  force,  retreated  to  Lucca.  Upon  this  retreat  great  disputes 
arose  in  the  Florentine  camp  between  the  nobility  and  the  peo 
ple,  about  pursuing  Castruccio ;  these  disputes  were  referred  to 
the  signory,  which,  consisting  at  this  time  of  commoners  as  well 
as  of  nobility,  was  also  divided  in  opinion.  Upon  this  the  peo 
ple  rose  in  a  tumult  and  forced  the  signory  to  give  way  to  them  ; 
but  it  was  now  too  late  to  follow  Castruccio,  and  the  people 
were  so  exasperated  that  they  would  not  suffer  the  public  faith 
to  be  kept  with  the  exiles.  The  nobility  having  some  regard 
to  their  honor,  though  the  people  had  not,  took  the  part  of  the 
exiles,  which  produced  another  civil  war. 

"  As  it  generally  happens  in  all  commonwealths,  that  after 
any  revolution  or  remarkable  crisis  1  some  or  other  of  the  old 
laws  are  abrogated  and  new  ones  made  in  their  room,  so,  though 
the  signori  at  first  were  changed  every  two  months,  yet  the  magis 
trates  who  were  now  in  office,  having  great  power,  took  upon 
themselves  to  constitute  a  signory  out  of  all  the  most  con 
siderable  citizens,  to  continue  forty  months.  Their  names  were 
to  be  put  into  a  bag  or  purse,  which  was  called  imborsation,2 
and  a  certain  number  of  them  drawn  out  by  lot  at  the  end  of 
every  second  month ;  whereas  before,  when  the  old  magistrates 
went  out  of  office,  new  ones  were  always  chosen  by  the  council. 

1  "  Dopo  uno  accidente."  2  "  Squittino  "  or  polling. 


FLORENCE.  33 

As  the  council  consisted  only  of  the  most  considerable  citizens, 
the  government  was  before  but  a  self-created  or  at  least  self-con 
tinued  aristocracy.  Now  it  was  equally  so,  with  this  difference 
only,  that  lot  was  substituted  in  the  room  of  choice.  As  the  lot 
was  not  to  be  now  renewed  till  after  a  term  of  above  three  years, 
it  was  thought  they  had  extinguished  the  causes  of  all  such  dis 
gusts  and  tumults  as  used  to  happen  from  the  frequent  return 
of  elections  and  the  number  of  competitors  for  the  magistracy, 
not  being  aware  how  little  advantage  and  how  many  mischiefs 
were  likely  to  flow  from  it.3 

In  1325,  in  a  war  with  Castruccio,  the  Florentines  were 
betrayed  by  their  general,  Raymondo.  This  man  saw  that  the 
Florentines  had  been  so  liberal  in  disposing  of  themselves,  that 
they  had  sometimes  conferred  their  government  upon  kings, 
sometimes  upon  legates,  and  sometimes  upon  persons  of  much 
inferior  quality ;  he  thought,  if  he  could  reduce  them  to  any 
extremity,  they,  perhaps,  would  make  him  their  prince ;  he  was 
very  importunate  with  them  to  give  him  the  same  command  in 
the  city,  that  he  had  over  their  army,  as  he  pretended  he  could 
not  otherwise  either  require  or  expect  that  necessary  obedience 
which  was  due  to  a  general.  Not  being  gratified,  he  trifled  and 
delayed,  till  he  was  attacked  and  defeated  with  great  slaughter 
and  the  loss  of  his  own  life ;  receiving  that  punishment  from 
the  hands  of  fortune,  which  his  ambition  and  perfidy  had 
merited  from  the  Florentines. 

"  The  havoc,  the  depredations,  imprisonments,  burnings,  and 
every  other  kind  of  devastation  made  by  Castruccio  upon  the 
Florentines  after  this  victory,  forced  them  to  offer  their  govern 
ment  to  Charles,  Duke  of  Calabria,*  son  of  King  Robert,  upon 
condition  that  he  would  defend  them ;  for  as  that  family  had 
been  used  to  rule  over  them,  they  chose  rather  to  shelter  them- 
selves  under  him  as  their  prince,  than  to  trust  him  as  an  ally. 
But  Charles,  being  engaged  in  the  wars  of  Sicily,  sent  Gaultier, 
a  Frenchman,  and  Duke  of  Athens,  as  his  lieutenant,  who  new- 

3  "  La  nouvelle  manure  de  proceder  aux  Elections,  parut  plus  democratique 
que  la  precedente ;  elle  etablissoit  une  plus  grande  egalite  entre  les  candidats,  et  elle 
appeloit  un  plus  grand  nombre  de  citoyens  aux  honneurs  publics.  Ce  dernier 
avantage  fut  meme  sans  doute  celui  qui  seduisit  le  peuple ;  il  flatta  la  jalousie 
secrete  des  homines  mediocres,  qui  voyoient  avec  depit  un  petit  nombre  de 
sujets  distingues,  toujours  designes  par  les  suffrages  du  public."  Sismondi,  Rep. 
Italiennes. 

*  Nerli,  p.  12. 


34  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

modelled  the  magistracy  as  he  thought  fit.  His  behavior  at  first 
was,  in  appearance,  so  modest  and  temperate,  that  he  gained 
the  affections  of  every  one. 

"  Charles  then  came  in  person  with  a  thousand  horse,  and  his 
presence  gave  some  check  to  Castruccio,  and  prevented  him 
from  roving  and  plundering  the  country  as  he  had  done  ;  but  if 
the  citizens  saved  any  thing  abroad,  it  was  lost  again  at  home ; 
and  when  their  enemies  were  curbed,  they  became  a  prey  to  the 
insolence  and  oppression  of  their  friends.  As  the  signori  were 
entirely  under  the  influence  of  the  Duke  of  Athens,  he  exacted 
four  hundred  thousand  florins  from  the  city  in  one  year,  though 
it  was  expressly  stipulated  in  the  agreement  made  with  him, 
that  he  should  not  raise  above  two  hundred  thousand  in  the 
whole ;  besides  which,  either  Charles  or  his  father  was  contin 
ually  laying  some  heavy  tax  or  other  upon  the  citizens.  These 
miseries  were  still  increased  by  new  jealousies,  fresh  enemies, 
and  more  extensive  wars,  in  which  all  the  neighboring  powers 
were  involved,  till  suddenly  Castruccio,  and  Charles,  Duke  of 
Calabria  and  Lord  of  Florence,  both  died.  The  Florentines, 
unexpectedly  delivered  from  the  oppression  of  one,  and  dread  of 
the  other,  and  having  once  more  recovered  their  liberty,  began 
to  reform  the  commonwealth.  They  abrogated  the  ordinances 
of  all  former  councils,  and  created  two  new  ones,  one  of  which 
consisted  of  three  hundred  of  the  commons,  and  the  other  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  of  both  commoners  and  nobility ;  the 
former  was  called  the  council  of  the  people,  and  the  latter  the 
common  council." 

After  the  death  of  Castruccio,  till  the  year  1340,  the  Floren 
tines  continued  wholly  intent  upon  their  affairs  and  wars  abroad. 

"  In  that  year  new  disturbances  arose  at  home.  The  governors 
of  the  city  had  two  ways  of  maintaining  and  increasing  their 
authority;  one  was,  by  managing  the  imborsations  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  always  to  secure  the  signory  either  to  themselves  or  their 
creatures ;  the  other,  by  getting  judges  chosen  who  they  knew 
would  be  favorable  to  them  in  their  sentences." 

And  how  is  it  possible,  in  any  simple  government,  to  prevent 
such  management  to  draw  all  the  legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial  power  into  one  centre,  and  that  centre  a  junto  of  aristo- 
cratics  ?  But  in  this  case,  — 

"  Not  content  with  two  judges,  the  governors  sometimes  con- 


FLORENCE.  35 

stituted  a  third,  whom  they  called  captain  of  the  guards ;  with 
which  office  they  now  vested  Jacopo  d'Agobbio,  and  gave  him 
an  absolute  power  over  the  citizens.  This  Jacopo,  under  the 
direction  of  the  governors,  behaved  with  the  most  shameless 
insolence  and  partiality,  daily  injuring  or  affronting  somebody  or 
other.  Some,  who  were  nobly  born,  and  men  of  high  spirit,  were 
provoked  to  such  a  degree,  that  a  stranger  should  be  introduced 
into  the  city  by  a  few  of  their  fellow-citizens  who  had  the  power 
in  their  hands,  on  purpose  to  insult  and  abuse  all  the  rest,  that 
they  entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  many  other  noble  families, 
and  some  of  the  commoners,  that  were  disgusted  at  so  tyrannical 
a  government,  to  revenge  themselves ;  hence  a  conspiracy,  that 
again  involved  the  city  in  blood.  By  artifice  and  force  together, 
the  signori  prevailed,  and  suppressed  the  conspiracy,  beheading 
some,  and  proclaiming  several  other  families  rebels.* 

"  However,  it  did  not  satiate  the  revenge  of  those  in  adminis 
tration,  to  have  conquered  and  suppressed  those  families ;  but, 
like  almost  all  other  men,  whose  insolence  commonly  increases 
with  their  power,  they  grew  more  imperious  and  arbitrary  as  they 
grew  stronger;  for  though  they  had  only  one  captain  of  the 
guards  to  tyrannize  over  the  city  before,  they  now  appointed 
another  to  reside  in  the  country,  and  vested  him  with  very  great 
authority;  so  that  any  one  who  was  in  the  least  obnoxious  to 
government  could  not  live  quietly,  either  within  the  city  or  with 
out  it.  The  nobility,  in  particular,  were  daily  abused  and  insulted 
by  them  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  only  waited  for  an  opportu 
nity  to  revenge  themselves  at  any  rate ;  and  as  one  soon  happened, 
they  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage  of  it.  The  Florentines  had 
purchased  Lucca ;  but,  defeated  in  securing  the  possession  of  it, 
they  carried  on  a  war  to  recover  it.  After  a  long  struggle,  they 
were  driven  out  of  it,  with  much  dishonor,  and  the  loss  of  all 
their  purchase-money.  This  disaster,  as  it  usually  happens  in 
like  cases,  threw  the  people  of  Florence  into  such  a  rage  against 
their  governors,  that  they  publicly  insulted  and  upbraided  them 
with  their  ill  conduct  and  administration,  in  all  places,  and  upon 
every  opportunity. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  management  of  it  had  been 
committed  to  twenty  citizens,  who  appointed  Malatesta  de  Rimini 

*  Nerli,  p.  14. 


36  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

commander-in-chief  of  their  forces  in  that  expedition ;  but  as  he 
executed  that  charge  with  little  courage  and  less  discretion,  they 
solicited  Robert,  King  of  Naples,  for  supplies,  which  he  accord 
ingly  sent  them,  under  the  command  of  Gaultier,  Duke  of  Athens, 
who,  as  the  evil  destiny  of  the  city  would  have  it,  arrived  there 
just  when  the  enterprise  against  Lucca  had  miscarried. 

"  The  Duke  arrived  at  this  time:*  and  the  governors,  being  in 
great  fear  of  the  multitude,  made  him  conservator  of  the  peace 
and  commander-in-chief,  that  he  might  have  both  authority 
and  power  enough  to  defend  them.1  Imagining  there  was  no 
other  way  left  to  get  the  better  of  the  people,  who  had  so  long 
domineered  over  them,  than  to  reduce  them  into  subjection  to  a 
prince,  who,  being  well  acquainted  with  the  worth  and  generosity 
of  the  nobility,  and  the  insolence  of  the  commons,  might  treat 
both  parties  according  to  their  deserts,  the  nobility  now  resolved 
to  take  their  revenge,  even  though  it  should  occasion  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  city.  They  had  many  private  meetings  to  persuade 
the  Duke  to  take  the  government  wholly  into  his  hands,  and  pro 
mised  to  support  him  with  all  their  interest  and  power.  Several 
of  the  most  considerable  commoners  joined  them,  particularly  the 
families  of  the  Peruzzi,  Acciaivoli,  Antellesi,  and  Buonaccorsi. 
Such  encouragement,  and  so  fair  an  opportunity,  inflamed  the 
Duke,  who  was  naturally  ambitious,  with  a  still  greater  thirst  of 
power ;  and,  in  order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  lower  sort  of 
people,  by  acting  like  a  just  and  upright  magistrate,  he  ordered  a 
process  to  be  commenced  against  those  that  had  been  entrusted 
with  the  management  of  the  late  war  against  the  Lucchese;  in  con 
sequence  of  which,  Giovanni  de' Medici  and  two  more  were  put  to 
death,  several  others  banished,  and  many  obliged  to  pay  large  sums 
of  money  for  their  pardon.  This  severe  manner  of  proceeding 
alarmed  the  middle  sort  of  citizens,  though  it  was  very  grateful 
to  the  nobility  and  common  people,  as  the  latter  generally  delight 
in  evil,  and  the  former  were  not  a  little  rejoiced  at  the  fall  of 
those  by  whom  they  had  been  so  grievously  oppressed ;  so  that, 
whenever  the  Duke  passed  through  the  streets,  they  resounded 

*  Nerli,  p.  15. 

1  Some  of  the  historians  assign  a  different  motive  for  this  movement.  It 
was  designed  by  the  governing  party  to  smother,  under  the  appointment  of  a 
more  oppressive  ruler,  any  disposition  to  scrutinize  their  own  peculations  and 
venality.  If  so,  they  were  the  first  victims  to  the  shrewdness  of  their  own  policy, 
for  he  established  himself  by  exposing  and  punishing  them. 


FLORENCE.  37 

with  acclamations  and  praises  of  his  justice  and  resolution,  while 
every  one  exhorted  him  to  persevere  in  his  endeavors  to  detect 
the  guilty,  and  to  bring  them  to  condign  punishment. 

"Notwithstanding  the  expostulations  of  the  signori,  in  an 
assembly  of  all  the  people,  the  government  was  given  to  the  Duke 
for  life,  and  he  was  carried  about  in  a  chair,  amidst  the  acclama 
tions  of  the  multitude ;  the  standard  of  the  city  was  torn  to  pieces, 
and  the  Duke's  planted  in  its  stead,  at  which  all  the  good  citizens 
were  infinitely  grieved  and  mortified,  whilst  those  who,  either  out 
of  malice  or  stupidity,  had  consented  to  this  election,  did  not  a 
little  rejoice." 

MachiavePs  next  task  is  to  give  us  a  detail  of  the  Duke's 
tyrannical  behavior,  which  was  as  wild,  cruel,  and  mad  as  all 
other  tyrannies  have  been  which  were  created  on  the  ruins  of  a 
republic.  The  Duke  perceived  the  general  odium  he  had  incurred, 
but  affected  to  think  himself  extremely  beloved.  He  was  informed 
of  a  plot  against  him,  in  which  the  family  of  the  Medici,  and 
others,  were  concerned;  but  he  ordered  the  informer  to  be  put  to 
death.  He  cut  out  the  tongue  of  Bettoni  for  complaining  of 
heavy  taxes,  &c.  His  outrages  were  sufficient  to  rouse  the  Flo 
rentines,  "  who  neither  knew  how  to  value  their  liberty  nor  to 
endure  slavery,"  says  Machiavel.  But  the  truth  is,  they  had  no 
liberty  to  value,  and  nothing  but  slavery  to  endure;  their  consti 
tution  was  no  protection  of  right;  their  laws  never  governed. 
They  were  slaves  to  every  freak  and  passion,  every  party  and 
faction,  every  aspiring  or  disappointed  noble ;  sometimes  to  the 
pope,  sometimes  to  the  King  of  Naples,  sometimes  to  Lando ; 
sometimes  to  one  nobleman,  sometimes  to  another;  sometimes 
to  their  own  signori,  and  sometimes  to  their  captains  of  arts.  If 
the  word  republic  must  be  used  to  signify  every  government  in 
which  more  than  one  man  has  a  share,  it  is  true  this  must  be 
called  by  that  name ;  but  a  republic  and  a  free  government  may 
be  different  things. 

There  were  now  three  conspiracies  on  foot  against  the  Duke; 
at  once  ;  but  each  conspiracy  was  a  new  system  of  tyranny, 
and  aimed  only  at  introducing  one  system  instead  of  another, 
instead  of  any  concert,  or  reasonable  combination,  to  take  down 
a  bad  government  and  set  up  a  good  one.  The  three  natural 
divisions  of  society  formed  three  different  plots  to  set  up  a  new 
tyranny,  each  in  its  own  way  :  the  nobility  had  one  plot,  the 

VOL.  v.  4 


38  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

commons  another,  and  the  artificers  a  third.  What  ideas  of  the 
rights  of  mankind  must  these  people  have  entertained !  The 
commons  had  been  deprived  of  the  government,  and  they  had 
no  idea  that  the  nobility  or  artisans  had  any  rights ;  the  nobility 
were  not  restored  to  the  government,  which  was  all  they  wanted; 
and  the  artisans  had  lost  their  business ;  but  none  of  these 
orders  could  communicate  with  the  others.  Assassination  of 
the  Duke  seems  to  have  been  all  the  object  in  view,  as  if  that 
would  remedy  all  the  evils.  The  plots,  however,  were  too  freely 
communicated,  and  at  last  were  told  to  the  Duke. 

In  1343  the  city  was  all  in  a  tumult,  and  "  liberty,  liberty ! " 
was  the  cry.  A  war  was  carried  on  in  the  city,  and  each  party 
changed  sides  several  times  ;  but,  after  long  distractions,  and 
much  bloodshed  and  devastation,  the  Duke  was  blocked  up  in 
the  palace,  and  the  citizens  assembled  to  reform  the  government. 

Fourteen  persons,  one  half  of  them  of  the  nobility,  and  the 
other  commoners,  with  the  archbishop,  had  full  power  given 
them  to  new-model  the  state.  The  judicial  department  was 
committed  to  six  magistrates,  who  were  to  administer  justice 
till  the  arrival  of  the  person  who  should  be  chosen  to  fill  that 
office.  "  Greater,  certainly,"  says  Machiavel,  "  and  more  cruel, 
is  the  resentment  of  the  people  when  they  have  recovered  their 
liberty,  than  when  they  are  acting  in  defence  of  it ;  and  an 
instance  of  brutal  ferocity  happened  here  that  is  a  disgrace  to 
human  nature.  The  people  insisted  upon  some  persons  being 
delivered  up  to  them,  and  among  them  a  father  and  son ;  when 
these  were  brought  out  and  delivered  up  to  thousands  of  their 
enemies  ;  and  though  the  son  was  not  eighteen,  yet  neither  his 
youth  or  innocence,  nor  the  gracefulness  of  his  person,  was 
sufficient  to  protect  him  from  the  rage  of  the  multitude.  Many 
who  could  not  get  near  enough  to  reach  them  whilst  they  were 
alive,  thrust  their  swords  into  them  after  they  were  dead  ;  and 
not  content  with  this,  they  tore  their  carcasses  to  pieces  with 
their  nails  and  teeth,  that  so  all  their  senses  might  be  glutted 
with  revenge  ;  and  after  they  had  feasted  their  ears  with  their 
groans,  their  eyes  with  their  wounds,  and  their  touch  with  tear 
ing  the  flesh  off  their  bones,  as  if  all  this  was  not  enough,  the 
taste  likewise  must  have  its  share  and  be  gratified." l 

1  It  is  but  just  to  add  that  this  was  Guglielmo  da  Scesi,  the  most  odious  of  the 


FLORENCE.  39 

This  is  Machiavel's  description  of  this  savage  barbarity;  and 
his  words  are  here  preserved,  that  it  may  be  seen  and  considered 
that  human  nature  is  the  same  in  a  mob  as  upon  a  throne,  and 
that  unbridled  passions  are  at  least  as  brutal  and  diabolical,  and 
unlimited  power  as  tyrannical,  in  a  mob,  as  in  a  monarch  or 
senate ;  they  are  worse,  for  there  is  always  a  number  among 
them  who  are  under  less  restraints  of  shame  and  decency. 

"  When  the  people  were  thus  satiated  with  blood,  the  Duke 
and  his  friends  were  suffered  to  withdraw  with  their  effects  un 
molested  out  of  Florence.  After  some  disputes  between  the 
nobility  and  people,  it  was  agreed  that  one  third  of  the  signori, 
and  one  half  of  the  other  magistrates  and  other  officers  of  state, 
should  consist  of  the  nobility.  The  city  was  divided  into  six 
parts,  each  of  which  chose  one  of  the  signori ;  and  though  it 
sometimes  happened  that  their  number  was  increased  to  twelve 
or  thirteen,  yet  they  were  afterwards  again  reduced  to  six.  But 
as  these  six  parts  were  not  duly  proportioned,  and  they  designed 
to  give  more  power  and  authority  to  the  nobility,  it  was  neces 
sary  to  make  a  new  regulation  in  this  point,  and  to  increase  the 
number  of  signori.  They  divided  the  city,  therefore,  into  quar 
ters,  and  chose  three  of  the  signori  out  of  each.  The  standard- 
bearer  of  justice,  and  those  of  the  several  companies,  were  laid 
aside ;  and  instead  of  the  twelve  buoni  homini,  they  created  eight 
counsellors,  four  of  each  quality. 

"  The  commonwealth,"  says  Machiavel,  "  being  settled  upon 
this  bottom,  might  have  continued  quiet  and  happy,  if  the 
nobility  could  have  been  content  to  confine  themselves  within 
the  bounds  of  that  moderation  which  is  requisite  in  all  repub 
lican  governments." 

It  is  impossible  to  read  these  grave  reflections  of  Machiavel 
and  Nedham,  so  often  repeated,  with  patience.  It  would  be  as 
wise  to  say,  that  the  nation  might  be  quiet  and  happy  under  a 
despot  or  monarch,  if  the  despot  or  monarch,  and  his  ministers 
and  minions,  could  be  content  and  moderate  ;  or  that  the  com 
monwealth  might  be  happy  under  an  oligarchy  or  simple  aris- 

Duke's  instruments  of  tyranny,  and  the  judge  who  had  lent  himself  to  all  his 
acts  of  cruelty.  The  son  was  scarcely  fourteen  years  old,  but  he  had  made  him 
self  detested  by  the  interest  manifested  in  the  execution  of  the  harsh  sentences 
against  offenders.  The  example  of  the  powerful  is  seldom  copied  with  more 
clearness  by  those  whom  they  oppress,  than  in  the  indulgence  of  their  vindictive- 
ness  whenever  it  comes  their  turn. 


40  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

tocracy,  if  all  concerned  in  government  could  be  content  and 
moderate.  When  we  know  human  nature  to  be  utterly  inca 
pable  of  this  content,  why  should  we  suppose  it?  Human 
nature  is  querulous  and  discontented  wherever  it  appears,  and 
almost  all  the  happiness  it  is  capable  of  arises  from  this  discon 
tented  humor.  It  is  action,  not  rest,  that  constitutes  our  plea 
sure.  All  we  have  to  do  is  to  guard  and  provide  against  this 
quality  ;  we  cannot  eradicate  it. 

"  But  the  behavior  of  the  nobility  was  quite  the  contrary," 
says  Machiavel ;  "  for,  as  they  always  disdained  the  thoughts  of 
equality,  even  when  they  lived  a  private  life,  so,  now  they  were 
in  the  magistracy,  they  thought  to  domineer  over  the  whole  city, 
and  every  day  produced  fresh  instances  of  their  pride  and  arro 
gance,  which  exceedingly  galled  the  people,  when  they  saw  they 
had  deposed  one  tyrant,  only  to  make  room  for  a  thousand." 

All  this,  one  may  safely  believe  to  be  exactly  true  ;  but  what 
then  ?  Why,  they  ought  to  have  separated  the  nobles  from  the 
commons,  and  made  each  independent  on  the  other.  Mixed 
together  in  equal  halves,  the  nobles  will  forever  tyrannize.  The 
insolence  of  one  side,  and  the  indignation  and  impatience  of 
the  other,  at  last  increased  to  such  a  height,  that  both  sides  flew 
to  arms,  and  the  people,  being  most  numerous,  carried  their 
point,  and  deprived  the  nobles  in  the  signory  of  their  authority  ; 
the  four  counsellors  of  their  order  were  also  turned  out  of  their 
offices,  and  the  remaining  number  increased  to  twelve,  which 
consisted  of  commoners  only.  Besides  which,  the  eight  who 
remained  in  the  signory  not  only  made  a  new  standard-bearer  of 
justice,  and  sixteen  other  standard-bearers  over  the  companies 
of  the  people,  but  modelled  all  the  councils  in  such  a  manner, 
that  the  government  was  now  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  peo 
ple  ;  and  we  shall  soon  see  how  well  it  operated. 

"  There  happened  a  great  dearth  in  Florence,  so  that  there  were 
grievous  discontents  both  among  the  nobility  and  common  peo 
ple  ;  the  former  repining  at  the  loss  of  their  authority,  and  the 
latter  murmuring  for  want  of  bread.  Andrea  Strozzi  sold  corn 
as  cheap  as  Malius  did  in  Rome.  This  drew  such  numbers  to 
his  house  that  he  boldly  mounted  his  horse  one  morning,  and 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  them,  called  upon  all  the  rest  of 
the  people  to  take  up  arms,  by  which  means  he  got  together 
above  four  thousand  men  in  less  than  an  hour,  and  conducting 


FLORENCE.  41 

them  to  the  palace  of  the  signori,  demanded  the  doors  to  be 
thrown  open  to  him.  This  attempt  was  too  bold  and  rash  to 
succeed  ;  yet  it  gave  the  nobility  fresh  hopes  of  recovering  their 
power,  now  they  saw  the  inferior  sort  of  people  so  incensed 
against  the  commons.  They  resolved  to  take  arms  and  make  use 
of  all  manner  of  allies  to  regain  that  by  force  which  they  con 
ceived  had  been  taken  from  them  with  so  much  injustice  ;  and 
to  insure  success  they  provided  themselves  with  arms,  fortified 
their  houses,  and  sent  to  their  friends  in  Lombardy  for  supplies. 
The  commons  and  the  signori,  on  the  other  hand,  were  no  less 
busy  in  arming  themselves,  and  sent  to  the  Sienese  and  Peru- 
gians  to  desire  their  assistance  ;  so  that  when  the  auxiliaries  on 
each  si^le  arrived,  the  whole  city  was  soon  in  arms." 

We  ought  to  pause  here  and  remark  a  combination  of  parties 
that  is  perfectly  natural,  though  it  has  seldom  occurred  in  the 
history  of  any  nation  so  distinctly  as  to  be  descanted  on  by 
historians  or  politicians.  Here  is  as  distinct  a  division  between 
the  commons  and  the  lower  class  as  there  ever  was  between 
nobles  and  commons.  By  the  commons  in  this  place  are  meant 
those  citizens  who  in  every  nation  of  the  world  are  commonly 
denominated  the  middling'  people,  who,  it  must  be  confessed,  have 
been  in  all  ages  and  countries  the  most  industrious  and  frugal, 
and  every  way  the  most  virtuous  part  of  the  community.  In  all 
countries  they  have  some  influence,  in  many  they  have  had 
some  share  in  the  government;  but  no  other  instance  than  this 
is  at  present  recollected  where  they  have  ever  had  a  sovereignty 
in  their  hands,  exclusive  both  of  the  highest  and  lowest  classes  of 
citizens.  As  if  it  had  been  the  intention  of  Providence  to  exhibit 
to  mankind  a  demonstration  that  power  has  the  same  effects 
upon  all  minds,  we  find  in  this  instance  the  Florentine  commons 
discovering  the  same  disposition  to  tyrannize  over  all  above  and 
all  below  them,  as  clearly  as  ever  kings,  nobles,  or  mobs  dis 
covered  it  when  they  had  the  power.  The  nobility  drew  up  in 
three  divisions.  The  commons  assembled  under  the  standard 
of  justice  and  the  colors  of  their  respective  companies,  and 
under  the  command  of  the  Medici  immediately  attacked  one  of 
the  divisions  of  the  nobility.  At  this  time  the  Medici  were  only 
commoners;  we  shall  hereafter  see  that  they  became  nobles 
and  sovereigns,  and  placed  sons  and  daughters  on  some  of  the 
thrones  of  Europe.  The  action  w,is  hot  and  bloody  for  three 

4* 


42  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

hours,  during  which  they  had  great  stones  tumbled  down  upon 
their  heads  from  the  tops  of  the  houses  and  were  terribly  galled 
with  cross-bows  below.  All  parties  behaved  with  an  obstinate 
bravery  that  would  have  done  honor  to  any  good  cause  ;  but  it 
is  unnecessary  to  relate  all  the  attacks  and  defences  and  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  in  the  course  of  the  civil  war ;  the  num 
bers  of  the  commoners  finally  prevailed,  "  upon  which,"  says 
Machiavel,  "  the  people,  especially  the  inferior  sort  of  them, 
naturally  rapacious  and  greedy  of  spoil,  began  to  plunder  the 
houses  of  the  nobility,  which  they  afterwards  burnt  down  to  the 
ground,  and  committed  such  other  outrages  as  the  bitterest 
enemy  to  the  city  of  Florence  would  have  been  ashamed  of." 

"  The  nobility  being  in  this  manner  entirely  subdued,  the  peo 
ple  took  upon  them  to  reform  the  state  ;  and  as  there  were  three 
degrees  of  them,  it  was  ordained  that  the  highest  rank  should 
have  the  nomination  of  two  of  the  signori,  the  middle  sort  of 
three,  and  the  lowest  of  three  more,  and  that  the  standard-bearer 
of  justice  should  be  chosen  by  turns  out  of  all  three.  The  old 
laws  were  revived  and  put  in  execution  against  the  nobility ; 
and  to  reduce  them  still  more  effectually  many  of  them  were 
incorporated  with  the  other  classes.*  By  these  means  they  were 
brought  so  low  that  they  became  abject  and  pusillanimous,  and 
never  durst  rise  any  more  against  the  people  ;  so  that  being 
deprived  of  their  arms  and  honors,  their  spirit  and  generosity 
likewise  seemed  to  be  extinguished.  After  this  depression  of 
the  nobles,  the  plague,  of  which  above  ninety-six  thousand  peo 
ple  died  in  Florence,  and  a  war  with  the  Visconti,  kept  the  city 
in  tranquillity  for  a  time.  But  the  war  being  ended,  new  fac 
tions  sprung  up  in  the  city  ;  for  though  the  nobility  were  ruined, 
fortune  found  other  means  to  raise  fresh  troubles  and  dissen 
sions. 

"  The  bitter  animosities  f  which  generally  happen  between 
the  people  and  nobility,  from  an  ambition  in  the  one  to  com 
mand  and  a  reluctance  in  the  other  to  obey,  are  the  natural 
sources  of  those  calamities  that  are  incident  to  commonwealths ; 
for  all  other  evils  that  usually  disturb  their  peace  are  both  occa 
sioned  and  fomented  by  this  contrariety  of  dispositions.  It  was 
this  that  kept  Rome  so  long  divided.  This  also  gave  birth  to 

*  Nerli,  p.  18.     Molti  avviliti  si  fanno  popolani.  f  Lib.  HE. 


FLORENCE.  43 

the  factions  that  sprung  up  in  Florence,  though  indeed  it  pro 
duced  at  last  very  different  effects  in  the  two  cities  ;  for  the 
division  that  first  arose  between  the  nobility  and  people  of 
Rome  terminated  with  disputes ;  that  at  Florence  only  with  the 
sword.  In  Rome  that  was  effected  by  a  law,  which  in  Florence 
could  hardly  be  done  by  the  banishment  and  death  of  numbers 
of  its  citizens.  The  quarrels  of  the  Romans  still  added  to  their 
spirit  and  military  virtue,  while  those  of  the  Florentines  utterly 
extinguished  them.  The  former  destroyed  that  equality  which 
was  at  first  established,  and  introduced  a  prodigious  disparity 
among  the  citizens ;  the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  abolished  all  supe 
riority  or  difference  of  rank,  and  put  every  man  upon  the  same 
level.  This  diversity  of  effects  must  certainly  have  proceeded 
from  a  difference  of  views.  The  people  of  Rome  desired  no 
more  than  to  share  with  the  nobility  in  the  administration  of 
the  commonwealth ;  but  the  people  of  Florence  were  not  only 
desirous  to  have  the  government  of  the  state  to  themselves,  but 
used  violent  measures  and  took  up  arms  to  exclude  their  nobles 
from  any  part  in  it ;  and  as  the  desires  of  the  Roman  people 
were  more  moderate,  their  demands  seemed  not  unreasonable  to 
the  nobility,  who  therefore  complied  with  them  ;  so  that  after 
some  little  bickerings  and  without  coming  to  an  open  rupture,  a 
law  was  made  by  which  the  people  were  satisfied,  at  least  for  a 
time,  and  the  nobles  continued  in  their  honors  and  offices.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  demands  of  the  Florentine  people  were  so 
extravagant  and  injurious  that  the  nobility  took  up  arms  to  sup 
port  their  privileges,  and  their  quarrels  grew  to  such  a  height 
that  numbers  were  either  banished  or  slain  before  they  could  be 
ended  ;  and  the  laws  afterwards  made  were  calculated  rather 
for  the  advantage  of  the  victors  than  the  common  good. 

"  The  success  of  the  people  of  Rome  made  that  state  more 
powerful ;  for  as  they  were  admitted  to  govern  the  common 
wealth  and  to  command  their  armies  and  provinces  equally  with 
the  nobility,  they  became  inspired  with  the  same  virtue  and 
magnanimity ;  and  as  the  city  through  them  grew  more  public- 
spirited,  its  power  also  increased.  But  in  Florence,  when  the 
people  had  subdued  the  nobility,  they  divested  them  of  all  man 
ner  of  authority,  and  left  them  no  possibility  of  recovering  any 
part  of  it  except  they  would  entirely  conform  to  their  customs 
and  way  of  living,  and  not  only  submit  to  appear,  but  to  be 


44  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

commoners  like  themselves.  And  this  was  the  reason  that 
induced  them  to  change  their  arms,  and  vary  their  titles  and  the 
names  of  their  families,  which  was  so  frequent  in  those  times 
among  the  nobility,  in  order  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the 
affections  of  the  people ;  so  that  the  military  spirit  and  great 
ness  of  soul  for  which  the  nobility  had  been  held  in  such  venera 
tion,  were  utterly  extinguished,  and  not  by  any  means  to  be 
raised  in  the  people  where  there  were  no  seeds  of  it ;  by  which 
means  Florence  became  every  day  more  abject  and  pusillani 
mous.  And  whereas  Rome  at  last  grew  so  powerful  and  wan 
ton  by  the  effect  of  its  virtue  that  it  could  not  be  governed 
otherwise  than  by  one  prince,  Florence  was  reduced  so  low  that 
a  wise  legislator  might  easily  have  modelled  it  and  given  it 
what  form  he  pleased." 

The  factions  between  the  nobility  and  the  commons,  which 
ended  in  the  utter  ruin  of  the  former,  have  been  already  related  ; 
but  peace  was  not  obtained.  All  authority  was  in  one  centre, 
the  commons  ;  and  there  were  other  orders  of  citizens  who  were 
not  satisfied  ;  the  same  contest  therefore  continued  under  a  new 
form  and  new  names.  They  now  happened  between  the  com 
mons  and  plebeians,  which  were  only  new  names  in  reality  for 
a  new  nobility  and  commons  ;  the  commons  now  took  the  place 
of  the  nobility,  and  the  plebeians  that  of  the  commons.  Machi- 
avel  is  as  clear  and  full  for  a  mixed  government  as  any  writer ; 
but  the  noble  invention  of  the  negative  of  an  executive  upon  a 
legislature  in  two  branches,  which  is  the  only  remedy  in  contests 
between  nobles  and  commons,  seems  never  to  have  entered  his 
thoughts ;  and  nothing  is  more  entertaining  than  that  mist 
which  is  perpetually  before  eyes  so  piercing,  so  capable  of  look 
ing  far  through  the  hearts  and  deeds  of  men  as  his,  for  want  of 
that  thought.  "  There  seemed  to  be  no  seeds  of  future  dissen 
sions  left  in  Florence."  No  seeds !  Not  one  seed  had  been 
eradicated  ;  all  the  seeds  that  ever  existed  remained  in  full  vigor. 
The  seeds  were  in  the  human  heart,  and  were  as  ready  to  shoot 
in  commons  and  plebeians  as  they  had  been  in  nobles.  "  But 
the  evil  destiny  of  our  city  and  want  of  good  conduct  occasioned 
a  new  emulation  between  the  families  of  the  Albizzi  and  the 
Ricci,*  which  produced  as  fatal  divisions  as  those  between  the 

*  Erano  in  que'  tempi  cosi  fatti  gli  Albizzi  e  i  Ricci,  due  famiglie  popolane 


FLORENCE.  45 

Buondelmonti  and  Uberti,  and  the  other  between  the  Cerchi 
and  Donati  had  done  before." 

It  was  no  evil  destiny  peculiar  to  Florence  ;  it  is  common  to 
every  city,  nation,  village,  and  club.  The  evil  destiny  is  in 
human  nature.  And  if  the  plebeians  had  prevailed  over  the 
commons  as  these  had  done  over  the  nobility,  some  two  ple 
beian  families  would  have  appeared  upon  the  stage  with  all  the 
emulation  of  the  Albizzi  and  Ricci,  to  occasion  divisions  and 
dissensions,  seditions  and  rebellions,  confiscations  and  banish 
ments,  assassinations,  conflagrations,  and  massacres,  and  all 
other  such  good  things  as  appear  forever  to  recommend  a  sim 
ple  government  in  every  form.1  When  it  is  found  in  experience, 
and  appears  probable  in  theory,  that  so  simple  an  invention  as  a 
separate  executive,  with  power  to  defend  itself,  is  a  full  remedy 
against  the  fatal  effects  of  dissensions  between  nobles  and  com 
mons,  why  should  we  Still  finally  hope  that  simple  governments, 
or  mixtures  of  two  ingredients  only,  will  produce  effects  which 
they  never  did  and  we  know  never  can  ?  Why  should  the 
people  be  still  deceived  with  insinuations  that  those  evils  arose 
from  the  destiny  of  a  particular  city,  when  we  know  that  destiny 
is  common  to  all  mankind  ? 

"  Betwixt  the  two  families  of  Albizzi  and  Ricci  there  was  a 
mortal  hatred,  each  conspiring  the  destruction  of  the  other  in 
order  to  engross  the  sole  management  of  the  commonwealth 
with  less  difficulty .*  However,  they  had  not  as  yet  taken  up 

intra  1*  altre  di  gran  riputaziono  e  di  molto  seguito,  per  esser  di  parentado 
grandissimo,  ed  erano  in  ciascheduna  di  esse  uomini  grandi  e  reputati,  e  che 
aspiravano  molto  alii  primi  gradi  del  governo,  e  alia  grandezza  dello  stato  loro ; 
e  per6  traendo  ad  un  medesimo  segno,  era  tra  loro  1'  odio,  e  1'  emulazione,  ma 
non  gut  erano  venuti  a  inani testa  divisione,  ne  all'  armi,  per  insino  all'  anno 
1353.  Nerli,  p.  21. 

*  E  pero  Uguccione  de'  Ricci  ristringendosi,  come  capo  di  quella  famiglia,  con 
gli  suoi  consorti,  e  con  i  primi  capi  della  loro  setta,  pensarono  di  poter  privar 
del  governo  gli  Albizzi,  come  discesi  anticamente  d'  Arezzo,  e  pero  tegnenti  del 
Ghibellino  ogni  volta,  che  si  ritrovassc  una  legge,  per  la  quale  era  prohibito  a 
qualunque  disceso  di  Ghibellino  di  poter  esercitare  officio,  o  magistrate  alcuno, 
la  quel  legge  era  disusata,  n<_-  piu  s'adoperava,  ne  si  mcttava  in  atto,  o  s'osservava 
in  modo  alcuno.  Nerli,  p.  21. 

1  "  Similar  revolutions  broke  out  at  the  same  time  in  the  other  Italian  repub 
lics.  In  every  one  the  same  progress  was  to  be  distinguished.  The  party  which 
in  all  had  risen  to  power,  as  democratic,  no  sooner  felt  themselves  in  possession 
of  it  than  they  turned  towards  aristocracy.  The  leaders  of  the  rising  generation 
presented  themselves  as  hereditary  tribunes  of  the  people  at  the  same  time  that 
they  impugned  hereditary  rights."  Lardner's  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia  —  History  of 
the  Italian  Republics,  p.  1ST." 


46  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

arms  or  proceeded  to  open  violence  on  either  side,  but  only 
thwarted  each  other  in  council  and  the  execution  of  their 
offices." 

A  private  quarrel  happened  in  the  market,  and  a  rumor  was 
instantly  spread,  nobody  knew  by  whom,  that  the  Ricci  were 
going  to  attack  the  Albizzi ;  and  by  others  it  was  said  that  the 
Albizzi  were  preparing  to  fall  upon  the  Ricci.  These  stories 
were  carried  to  both  parties,  and  occasioned  such  an  uproar 
throughout  the  whole  city  that  the  magistrates  found  it  very 
difficult  to  keep  the  two  families  and  their  friends  from  coming 
to  a  battle  in  earnest,  though  neither  side  had  intended  any  such 
thing  as  was  maliciously  reported.  This  disturbance,  though 
accidental,  inflamed  the  former  animosities,  and  determined 
both  sides  to  strengthen  their  parties  and  be  upon  their  guard  ; 
and  since  the  citizens  were  reduced  to  such  a  degree  of  equality 
by  the  suppression  of  the  nobility  that  the  magistrates  were  held 
in  greater  reverence  than  ever  they  had  been  before,  each  family 
resolved  to  avail  itself  rather  of  public  and  ordinary  means  than 
of  private  violence." 

The  intrigues  of  these  two  families  to  supplant  each  other  are 
very  curious  ;  but  as  the  detail  of  them  is  long,  we  shall  leave 
the  reader  to  amuse  himself  with  them  at  his  leisure,  and  come 
to  a  speech  made  to  the  signori  by  an  eminent  citizen,  when 
affairs  were  become  so  critical  and  dangerous  as  to  alarm  all 
impartial  men.  "  The  common  disease,"  says  he,  "  magnificent 
signors,  of  the  other  cities  in  Italy  has  invaded  ours,  and  is 
continually  eating  deeper  and  deeper  into  its  vitals.  All  our 
towns  for  want  of  due  restraint  have  run  into  extremes,  and  from 
liberty  degenerated  into  downright  licentiousness,  making  such 
laws  and  instituting  such  governments  as  were  rather  calculated 
to  foment  and  support  factions  than  maintain  freedom.  From 
this  source  are  derived  all  the  defects  and  disorders  we  labor 
under ;  no  friendship  or  union  is  to  be  found  among  the  citizens 
except  betwixt  such  as  are  accomplices  in  some  wicked  design 
either  against  their  neighbors  or  their  country.  All  religion  and 
fear  of  God  are  utterly  extinguished  ;  promises  and  oaths  are  no 
further  binding  than  they  serve  to  promote  some  private  advan 
tage,  and  they  are  resorted  to  not  with  any  design  to  observe 
them,  but  as  necessary  means  to  facilitate  the  perpetration  of 
fraud,  which  is  even  honored  and  applauded  in  proportion  to  its 


FLORENCE.  47 

success.  From  hence  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  most  wicked 
and  abandoned  wretches  are  admired  as  able,  enterprising  men ; 
while  the  innocent  and  conscientious  are  laughed  at  and  de 
spised  as  fools. 

"  The  young  men  are  indolent  and  effeminate ;  the  old, 
lascivious  and  contemptible;  without  regard  to  age  or  sex 
every  place  is  full  of  the  most  licentious  brutality,  for  which  the 
laws  themselves,  though  good  and  wholesome,  are  yet  so  par 
tially  executed  that  they  do  not  afford  any  remedy.  This  is  the 
real  cause  of  that  selfish  spirit  which  now  so  generally  prevails, 
and  of  that  ambition,  not  for  true  glory,  but  for  places,  which 
dishonors  the  possessors ;  hence  proceed  those  fatal  animosities, 
those  seeds  of  envy,  revenge,  and  faction,  with  their  usual 
attendants,  executions,  banishments,  depression  of  good  men, 
and  exaltation  of  the  wicked. 

"  The  ringleaders  of  parties  varnish  over  their  pernicious 
designs  with  some  sacred  title  ;  for,  being  in  reality  enemies  to 
all  liberty,  they  more  effectually  destroy  it  by  pretending  to 
defend  the  rights,  sometimes  of  the  nobility,  sometimes  of  the 
commons  ;  since  the  fruit  which  they  expect  from  a  victory  is 
not  the  glory  of  having  delivered  their  country,  but  the  satisfac 
tion  of  having  conquered  the  opposite  party  and  secured  the 
government  of  the  state  to  themselves  ;  and  when  once  they 
have  obtained  that,  there  is  no  sort  of  cruelty,  injustice,  or 
rapine,  that  they  are  not  guilty  of.  From  thenceforward  laws 
are  enacted,  not  for  the  common  good,  but  for  private  ends. 
War  and  peace  are  made,  and  alliances  concluded,  not  for  the 
honor  of  the  public,  but  to  gratify  the  humors  of  particular  men. 
Our  laws,  our  statutes  and  civil  ordinances  are  made  to  indulge 
the  caprice  or  serve  the  ambition  of  the  conqueror,  not  to  pro 
mote  the  true  interest  of  a  free  people ;  so  that  one  faction  is 
no  sooner  extinguished  than  another  is  lighted  up. 

"  A  city  that  endeavors  to  support  itself  by  parties  instead  of 
laws  can  never  be  at  peace ;  for  when  one  prevails  and  is  left 
without  opposition,  it  necessarily  divides  again.  When  the 
Ghibellines  were  depressed,  every  one  thought  the  Guelphs 
would  then  have  lived  in  peace  and  security ;  and  yet  it  was 
not  long  before  they  divided  into  the  factions  of  the  Neri  and 
Bianchi.  When  the  Bianchi  were  reduced,  new  commotions 
arose,  sometimes  in  favor  of  the  exiles,  sometimes  betwixt  the 


48  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

nobility  and  people  ;  and  to  give  that  away  to  others,  which  we 
could  not  or  would  not  possess  quietly  ourselves,  we  first  com 
mitted  our  liberties  into  the  hands  of  King  Robert,  then  of  his 
brother,  next  of  his  son,  and  last  of  all  to  the  mercy  of  the  Duke 
of  Athens,  never  settling  or  reposing  under  any  government,  as 
people  that  could  neither  be  satisfied  with  being  free  nor  submit 
to  live  in  slavery.  Nay,  so  much  was  our  state  inclined  to  divi 
sion,  that  rather  than  acquiesce  under  the  government  of  a  king, 
it  meanly  prostituted  itself  to  the  tyranny  of  a  vile  and  pitiful 
Agobbian.  The  Duke  of  Athens  was  no  sooner  expelled  but 
we  took  up  arms  again,  and  fought  against  each  other  with  more 
rancor  and  inveteracy  than  ever,  till  the  ancient  nobility  were 
entirely  subdued,  and  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  people.  It  was 
then  the  general  opinion  there  would  be  no  more  factions  or 
troubles  in  Florence,  since  those  were  humbled  whose  insup 
portable  pride  and  ambition  had  been  the  chief  occasion  of  them  ; 
but  we  now  see  that  pride  and  ambition,  which  was  thought  to 
be  utterly  extinguished  by  the  fall  of  the  nobility,  now  springs 
up  again  among  the  people,  who  begin  to  be  equally  impatient 
for  authority,  and  aspire  with  the  same  vehemence  to  the  first 
offices  in  the  commonwealth. 

"  It  seems  the  will  of  Heaven  that  certain  families  should  spring 
up  in  all  commonwealths  to  be  the  pest  and  ruin  of  them.  Our 
city  owes  its  miseries  and  distractions  not  merely  to  one  or  two, 
but  to  several  of  those  families ;  first  to  the  Buondelmonti  and 
Uberti,  next  to  the  Donati  and  Cerchi,  and  now,  to  our  shame 
be  it  spoken,  to  the  Ricci  and  Albizzi.  Why  may  not  this  com 
monwealth,  in  spite  of  former  examples  to  the  contrary,  not  only 
be  united,  but  reformed  and  improved  by  new  laws  and  constitu 
tions  ?  You  must  not  impute  the  factions  of  our  ancestors  to  the 
nature  of  the  men,  but  to  the  iniquity  of  the  times,  which  being  now 
altered,  afford  this  city  fair  hopes  of  better  fortune ;  and  our  dis 
orders  may  be  corrected  by  the  institution  of  wholesome  laws, 
by  a  prudent  restraint  of  ambition,  by  prohibiting  such  customs 
as  tend  to  nourish  and  propagate  faction,  and  by  substituting 
others,  that  may  conduce  to  maintain  liberty  and  good  civil 
government." 

This  speech,  although  upon  the  whole  it  is  excellent,  has  seve 
ral  essential  mistakes.  That  certain  families  will  spring  up  in 
every  simple  government,  and  in  every  injudicious  mixture  of 


FLORENCE.  49 

aristocracy  and  democracy,  to  be  the  pest  and  ruin  of  them,  is 
most  certain.  It  is  the  will  of  Heaven  that  the  happiness  of 
nations,  as  well  as  that  of  individuals,  should  depend  upon  the 
use  of  their  reason ;  they  must  therefore  provide  for  themselves 
constitutions  which  will  restrain  the  ambition  of  families.  With 
out  the  restraint,  the  ambition  cannot  be  prevented ;  nature  has 
planted  it  in  every  human  heart.  The  factions  of  their  ancestors 
ought  not  to  have  been  imputed  to  the  iniquity  of  the  times,  for 
all  times  and  places  are  so  iniquitous.  Those  factions  grew  out 
of  the  nature  of  men  under  such  forms  of  government ;  and  the 
new  form  ought  to  have  been  so  contrived  as  to  produce  a  remedy 
for  the  evil.  This  might  have  been  done ;  for  there  is  a  way  of 
making  the  laws  more  powerful  than  any  particular  persons  or 
families. 

"As  this  advice  was  conformable  to  the  sentiments  of  the  sig- 
nori,  they  appointed  fifty-six  citizens*  to  provide  for  the  safety 
of  the  commonwealth ;  but  as  most  people  are  fitter  to  preserve 
good  order  than  to  restore  it  when  lost,  these  citizens  took  more 
pains  to  extinguish  the  present  factions  than  to  provide  against 
new  ones,  which  was  the  reason  that  they  succeeded  in  neither ; 
for  they  not  only  did  not  take  away  the  occasion  of  fresh  ones, 
but  made  one  of  those  that  were  then  subsisting  so  much  more 
powerful  than  the  other,  that  the  commonwealth  was  in  great 
danger. 

"  They  deprived  three  of  the  family  of  Albizzi,  and  as  many  of 
the  Ricci,  of  all  share  in  the  magistracy  for  three  years,  except  in 
such  branches  of  it  as  were  particularly  appropriated  to  the 
Guelph  party;  of  which  number  Piero  de  gli  Albizzi  and  Uguc- 
cione  de' Ricci  were  two.  These  provisions  bore  much  harder 
upon  the  Ricci  than  the  Albizzi ;  for,  though  they  were  equally 
stigmatized,  yet  the  Ricci  were  the  greatest  sufferers.  Pietro, 
indeed,  was  excluded  from  the  palace  of  the  signori,  but  he  had 
free  admittance  into  that  of  the  Guelphs,  where  his  authority 
was  very  great ;  and  though  he  and  his  associates  were  forward 
enough  in  their  'admonitions'1  before,  they  became  much  more 

*  Nerli,  p.  22.     Fece  creare  una  balia  de  56  cittadini. 

1  This  word  "  ammoniti "  in  the  original  is  used  as  a  technical  term,  and  refera 
to  a  practice  adopted  in  Florence  for  the  purpose  of  excluding  the  Ghibellines 
from  power.  Sismondi  explains  it  thus : 

"  Lorsque  les  capitaines  de  parti  auroient,  aux  deux  tiers  des  suffrages,  declar6 
Gibelin  un  citoyen,  il  leur  fut  ordonne  de  Uadmonester  ou  avertir  de  ne  point 

VOL.  V.  5  D 


50  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

forward  after  this  mark  of  disgrace,  and  new  accidents  occurred, 
which  still  more  inflamed  their  resentment. 

"  Gregory  XL  was  pope  at  that  time ;  and  residing,  as  his  late 
predecessors  had  done,  at  Avignon,  he  governed  Italy  by  legates, 
who,  being  haughty  and  rapacious,  had  grievously  oppressed 
several  of  the  cities.  One  of  these  legates  being  then  at  Bologna, 
took  advantage  of  a  scarcity,  and  resolved  to  make  himself  mas 
ter  of  Tuscany.  This  occasioned  the  war  with  the  pope.*  The 
Florentines  entered  into  a  confederacy  with  Galeazzo  and  all 
the  other  states  that  were  at  variance  with  the  church;  after 
which  they  appointed  eight  citizens  for  the  management  of  it, 
whom  they  invested  with  an  absolute  power  of  proceeding,  and 
disbursing  money  without  control  or  account.  This  war  gave 
fresh  courage  to  the  Bicci,  who,  in  opposition  to  the  Albizzi,  had 
upon  all  occasions  favored  Galeazzo  and  appeared  against  the 
church,  and  especially  because  all  the  eight  were  enemies  to  the 
Guelphs ;  but  though  they  made  a  vigorous  war  against  the 
pope,  they  could  not  defend  themselves  against  the  captains  and 
their  adherents.  The  envy  and  indignation  with  which  che 
Guelphs  looked  upon  the  eight,  made  them  grow  so  bold  ^cid 
insolent,  that  they  often  affronted  and  abused  them,  as  we/I  as 
the  rest  of  the  principal  citizens.  The  captains  were  no  less 
arrogant;  they  were  even  more  dreaded  than  the  signoii,  and 
men  went  with  greater  awe  and  reverence  to  their  houses  than 
to  the  palace ;  so  that  all  the  ambassadors  who  came  to  Florence 
were  instructed  to  address  themselves  to  them. 

"After  the  death  of  the  pope,  the  city  had  no  war  abroad,  but 
was  in  great  confusion  at  home ;  for,  on  one  hand,  the  Guelphs 
were  become  so  audacious,  that  they  were  no  longer  supportable; 
and,  on  the  other,  there  was  no  visible  way  to  suppress  them ;  it 
was  necessary,  therefore,  to  take  up  arms,  and  leave  the  event  to 
fortune.  On  the  side  of  the  Guelphs  were  all  the  ancient  nobility 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  more  powerful  citizens ;  on  the  other 
were  all  the  inferior  sort  of  people,  headed  by  the  eight,  and 
joined  by  George  Scali,  Strozzi,  the  Blcci,  the  Alberti,  and  the 

accepter  d'emploi,  sous  peine  d'etre  poursuivi.     De  cette  manieire,  Ics  Dommes 
suspects  furent  ecartes  des  places,  sans  etre  soumis  a  une  peine;  mais  *a.e  classe 
de  mecontens,  qu'on  appela  les  ammoniti  ou  admonest&s,  fut  exclue,  t,r  quelque 
sorte,  des  droits  de  cite."     Hist,  des  Repab.  Italiennes,  vol.  vi  p.  32G. 
*  Nerli,  p.  23. 


FLORENCE.  51 

Medici.  The  rest  of  the  multitude,  as  it  almost  always  happened, 
joined  with  the  discontented  party.  The  power  of  their  adversa 
ries  seemed  to  the  heads  of  the  Guelphs  to  be  formidable,  and 
their  danger  great,  if  at  any  time  a  signory  that  was  not  on  their 
side  should  attempt  to  depress  them.  They  found  the  number 
of  persons  who  had  been  '  admonished '  was  so  great,  that  they 
had  disobliged  most  of  the  citizens,  and  made  them  their  enemies. 
They  thought  there  was  no  other  remedy,  now  they  had  deprived 
them  of  their  honors,  but  to  banish  them  out  of  the  city,  seize 
upon  the  palace  of  the  signori,  and  put  the  government  of  the 
state  wholly  into  the  hands  of  their  own  creatures,  according  to 
the  example  of  the  Guelphs,  their  predecessors,  whose  quiet  and 
security  were  entirely  owing  to  the  total  expulsion  of  their 
enemies. 

"  But  as  they  differed  in  opinion  about  the  time  of  putting 
their  project  in  execution,  the  eight,  aware  of  the  trick  intended, 
deferred  the  imborsation,  and  Sylvestro,  the  son  of  Alamanno  de' 
Medici,  was  appointed  gonfalonier.*  As  he  was  bom  of  one  of 
the  most  considerable  families  of  the  commoners,  he  could  not 
bear  to  see  the  people  oppressed  by  a  few  grandees.  With 
Alberti,  Strozzi,  and  Scali,  he  secretly  prepared  a  decree,  by 
which  the  laws  against  the  nobility 1  were  to  be  revived,  the 
authority  of  the  captains  retrenched,  and  those  who  had  been 
admonished  admitted  into  the  magistracy.  Sylvestro  being 
president,  and  consequently  prince  of  the  city  for  a  time,  caused 
both  a  college  and  council  to  be  called  the  same  morning ;  but 
his  decree  was  thrown  out  as  an  innovation.  He  went  away 
to  the  council,  and  pretended  to  resign  his  office,  and  leave  the 
people  to  choose  another  person,  who  might  either  have  more 
virtue  or  better  fortune  than  himself;  upon  this,  such  of  the 
council  as  were  in  the  secret,  and  others  who  wished  for  a 

*  Nerli,  p.  23. 

1  That  is,  the  Albizzi,  representing  the  Guelph,  which  had  become  the  aristo 
cratic  faction. 

It  was  his  turn  to  act  as  proposto,  which  involved  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
proposing  new  laws.  Upon  this  singular  feature  of  the  government,  the  histo 
rian  Sismondi  justly  remarks,  that  it  was  putting  fetters  upon  the  legislative 
power  of  the  people's  agents,  which  made  necessary  the  frequent  rotation  of  the 
whole,  in  order  to  prevent  the  chance  of  the  authority  of  one  becoming  abso 
lute.  Neither  was  this  check  sufficient.  The  inability  to  deal  with  this  rea 
sonable  measure  in  any  other  way  than  that  of  direct  acceptance  or  rejection, 
no  amendment  being  admissible,  led  to  the  successful  appeal  to  the  people,  and 
the  disorders  and  revolution  that  followed. 


52  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

change,  raised  a  tumult  in  1378,*  at  which  the  signori  and  the 
colleges  immediately  came  together ;  seeing  their  gonfalonier 
retiring,  they  obliged  him,  partly  by  their  authority,  and  partly 
by  their  entreaties,  to  return  to  the  council,  which  was  in  great 
confusion.  Many  of  the  principal  citizens  were  threatened, 
and  treated  with  the  utmost  insolence ;  among  the  rest,  Carlo 
Strozzi  was  collared  by  an  artificer,  and  would  have  been  knocked 
on  the  head,  if  some  of  the  bystanders  had  not  rescued  him. 
But  the  person  who  made  the  greatest  disturbance  was  Bene 
detto  de  gli  Alberti,  who  got  into  one  of  the  windows  of  the 
palace,  and  called  out  to  the  people  to  arm ;  upon  which,  the 
piazza  was  instantly  full  of  armed  men,  and  the  colleges  were 
obliged  to  do  that  by  fear,  which  they  would  not  come  into 
when  they  were  petitioned. 

"  But  whoever  intends  to  make  any  alteration  in  a  common 
wealth,  and  to  effect  it  by  raising  the  multitude,  will  find  him 
self  deceived,  if  he  thinks  he  can  stop  where  he  will,  and 
conduct  it  as  he  pleases.  The  design  of  Sylvestro  was  to  quiet 
and  secure  the  city,  but  the  thing  took  a  very  different  turn ; 
for  the  people  were  in  such  a  ferment,  that  the  shops  were  shut 
up,  the  houses  barricaded,  and  many  removed  their  goods  for 
security  into  churches  and  convents.  All  the  companies  of  the 
arts  assembled,  and  each  of  them  appointed  a  syndic.  The 
signori  called  the  colleges  together,  and  were  a  whole  day  in 
consultation  with  the  syndics,  how  to  compose  the  disorders  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  parties  ;  but  they  could  not  agree.  The 
council,  then,  to  hold  out  some  hopes  of  satisfaction  to  the  arts 
and  the  rest  of  the  people,  gave  a  full  poiuer,  which  the  Floren 
tines  called  a  balia,  to  the  signori,  the  colleges,  the  eight,  the 
captains  of  the  party,  and  the  syndics  of  the  arts,  to  reform 
the  state.  But  while  they  were  employed  in  this,  some  of  the 
inferior  companies  of  the  arts,  at  the  instigation  of  certain 
persons,  who  wanted  to  revenge  the  late  injuries  they  had 
received  from  the  Guelphs,  detached  themselves  from  the  rest, 
and  went  to  plundering  and  burning  houses.  They  broke  open 
the  jails,  set  the  prisoners  at  liberty,  and  plundered  the  monas 
teries  and  convents. 

"  The  next  morning  the  balia  proceeded  to  requalify  the  am- 

*  Muratori,  AnnaL  torn.  viii.  p.  375.  Gcino  Capponi,  del  tumulto  de1  Ciompi, 
torn,  xviii.  Her.  Italic. 


FLORENCE.  53 

moniti,  the  admonished^  though  with  an  injunction  not  to  exer 
cise  any  function  in  the  magistracy  for  three  years ;  they  repealed 
such  laws  as  had  been  made  by  the  Guelphs  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  other  citizens,  and  proclaimed  rebels  many  who  had  incurred 
the  hatred  of  the  public  ;  after  which  the  names  of  the  new 
signori  were  published,  and  Luigi  Guicciardini  was  declared 
their  gonfalonier.*  If  those  who  were  admonished,  the  ammoniti, 
could  have  been  content,  the  city  was  in  a  fair  way  of  being 
quieted;  but  they  thought  it  hard  to  wait  three  years  longer, 
before  they  could  enjoy  any  share  in  the  magistracy.  The  arts 
assembled  again  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  them,  and  demanded 
of  tile  signori,  that,  for  the  good  and  quiet  of  the  city,  it  should 
be  decreed,  that  no  citizen  for  the  future  should  be  admonished 
as  a  Ghibelline,  who  had  ever  been  one  of  the  signori,  or  the 
college,  or  the  captains  of  the  companies,  or  the  consuls  or  syn 
dics  of  any  of  the  arts ;  and  further,  that  a  new  imborsation 
should  be  made  of  the  Guelph  party,  and  the  old  one  burnt. 
It  seldom  happens  that  men  who  covet  the  property  of  others, 
and  long  for  revenge,  are  satisfied  with  a  bare  restitution  of 
their  own.  Accordingly  some,  who  expected  to  advance  their 
fortunes  by  exciting  commotions,!  endeavored  to  persuade  the 
artificers,  that  they  could  never  be  safe,  except  many  of  their 
enemies  were  either  banished  or  cut  off." 

The  city  continued  in  the  utmost  confusion  between  the  two 
new  parties  of  commons  and  plebeians.  But  waving  a  parti 
cular  detail,  the  essence  of  several  years'  miseries  may  be  col 
lected  from  two  speeches.  One  is  of  Luigi  Guicciardini,  a 
standard-bearer  to  the  plebeians  :  —  "  The  more  we  grant,"  says 
he,  "  the  more  shameless  and  arrogant  are  your  demands.  If  we 
speak  thus  to  you,  we  do  so,  not  to  offend,  but  to  lead  you  to 
reform  ;  to  which  end  we  are  willing  that  others  may  say  to  you 
what  will  please,  whilst  our  province  remains  to  say  that  which 
may  do  you  good.  Tell  us,  on  your  honor,  what  is  there,  that 
you  can  reasonably  ask  more  of  us  ?  You  desired  to  have  the 

*  Nerli,  p.  24. 

f  Fu  facile  a  Salvestro  de'  Medici,  e  a  gli  altri,  levato  che  fu  tumulto,  vincer 
la  legge ;  ma  non  fu  gia  loro  cosi  facile,  ne  poterano  a  posta  loro  fermare  il  tu 
multo  mosso  nel  popolo,  e  nella  plcbe,  che  s'cra  anco  sollevata  in  modo,  che  da 
questo  rumore  ne  segui  1'  arsione,  e  il  sacco  di  molte  case.  Attese  la  sfrenata 
moltitudine  due,  o  tre  giorni  a  sacchego-iare,  e  ardere  quello  potette.  Nerli, 
p.  24. 

5* 


54  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

captains  of  the  party  deprived  of  their  authority  ;  they  have 
been  deprived.  You  insisted  that  the  old  imborsation  should 
be  burnt,  and  a  new  one  made  ;  we  consented.  You  wanted  to 
have  those  reinstated  in  the  magistracy,  that  had  been  admo 
nished  ;  it  has  been  granted.  At  your  intercession  we  pardoned 
such  as  had  been  guilty  of  burning  houses,  and  robbing  churches, 
and  we  banished  many  of  our  principal  citizens  at  your  instiga 
tion.  To  gratify  you,  the  grandees  are  bridled  with  new  laws, 
and  every  thing  done  that  might  give  you  content ;  where,  then, 
can  we  expect  your  demands  will  stop ;  or  how  long  will  you 
thus  abuse  your  liberty  ?  Why  will  ye  suffer  your  own  discords 
to  bring  the  city  into  slavery  ?  What  else  can  ye  expect  from 
your  divisions  ?  what,  from  the  goods  ye  have  already  taken,  or 
may  hereafter  take  from  your  fellow-citizens,  but  servitude  and 
poverty  ?  The  persons  you  plunder  are  those  whose  fortunes 
and  abilities  are  the  defence  of  the  state,  and  if  they  fail,  how 
must  it  be  supported  ?  Whatever  is  got  that  way  cannot  last 
long ;  and  then  ye  have  nothing  to  look  for  but  remediless 
famine  and  distress." 

"  These  expostulations  made  some  impression,  and  they  pro 
mised  to  be  good  citizens  and  obedient;  but  a  fresh  tumult  soon 
arose,  more  dangerous  than  the  former.  The  greater  part  of  the 
late  robberies  and  other  mischiefs,  had  been  committed  by  the 
rabble  and  dregs  of  the  people  ;  and  those  of  them  who  had 
been  the  most  audacious  apprehended,  that  when  the  most 
material  differences  were  composed,  they  should  be  called  to  an 
account  for  their  crimes,  and  deserted,  as  it  always  happens,  by 
those  very  persons  at  whose  instigation  they  had  committed 
them.  Besides  which,  the  inferior  sort  of  people  had  conceived 
a  hatred  against  the  richer  citizens  and  principals  of  the  arts, 
upon  a  pretence  that  they  had  not  been  rewarded  for  their  past 
services  in  proportion  to  what  they  deserved." 

To  show  how  divisions  grow  wherever  human  nature  is  with 
out  a  check,  it  is  worth  while  to  be  particular  here.  "  When  the 
city  was  first  divided  into  arts,  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  there 
was  a  proper  head  or  governor  appointed  over  each  of  them,  to 
whose  jurisdiction,  in  civil  cases,  every  person  in  the  several  arts 
was  to  be  subject.  These  arts  or  companies,  as  we  have  said, 
were  at  first  but  twelve,  but  afterwards  they  were  increased  to 
twenty-one,  and  arrived  at  such  power  and  authority,  that  ih.  a 


FLORENCE.  55 

few  years  they  wholly  engrossed  the  government  of  the  city ; 
and  because  some  were  more,  and  others  less  honorable  among 
them,  they  came  by  degrees  to  be  distinguished,  and  seven  of 
them  were  called  the  greater  arts,  and  fourteen  the  less.  From 
this  division  proceeded  the  arrogance  of  the  captains  of  the 
party ;  for  the  citizens  who  had  formerly  been  Guelphs,  to 
which  party  those  offices  were  always  appropriated,  had  made 
it  a  constant  rule  to  favor  the  greater  arts,  and  to  discounte 
nance  the  less,  and  all  those  who  sided  with  them  ;  which  chiefly 
gave  occasion  to  all  the  tumults  we  have  hitherto  made  mention 
of.  And  as,  in  the  division  of  the  people  into  arts  and  corpora 
tions,  there  were  many  trades  in  which  the  meaner  sort  are 
usually  occupied,  that  were  not  incorporated  into  any  distinct  or 
particular  company  of  their  own,  but  admitted  into  any  of  the 
others,  as  they  most  approached  the  nature  of  their  craft,  it  hap 
pened  that  when  they  were  not  duly  satisfied  for  their  labor,  or 
any  otherwise  oppressed  by  their  masters,  they  had  no  other 
head  to  apply  to  for  redress  but  the  magistrate  of  that  company 
to  which  the  person  belonged  that  employed  them,  who,  they 
commonly  thought,  did  not  do  them  justice.  Now,  of  all  the 
companies  in  the  city,  that  of  the  clothiers  had  the  most  of  this 
sort  of  people  depending  upon  it ;  and  being  more  opulent  and 
powerful  than  any  of  the  rest,  it  maintained  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  multitude.  The  meaner  sort  of  people,  therefore, 
both  of  this  company  and  the  others,  were,  for  the  causes  as 
signed,  highly  enraged ;  and  being  also  terrified  at  the  appre 
hension  of  being  punished  for  their  late  outrages,  they  had 
frequent  meetings  in  the  night ;  where,  considering  what  had 
happened,  they  represented  to  each  other  the  danger  they  were 
in ;  and  to  animate  and  unite  them  all,  one  of  the  boldest  and 
most  experienced  of  them  harangued  his  companions  in  this 
manner :  — 

"  '  If  it  was  now  to  be  debated  whether  we  should  take  arms 
to  plunder  and  burn  the  houses  of  our  fellow-citizens  and  rob 
the  churches,  I  should  be  one  of  those  who  would  think  it  wor 
thy  of  great  consideration,  and  perhaps  be  induced  to  prefer 
secure  poverty  to  hazardous  gain.  But  since  arms  have  been 
already  taken  up  and  much  mischief  done,  the  first  points  to  be 
considered  are,  in  what  manner  we  may  retain  them  and  ward 
off  the  penalties  we  have  incurred.  The  whole  city  is  full  of 


56  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

rage  and  complaints  against  us,  the  citizens  are  daily  in  council, 
and  the  magistrates  frequently  assembled.  Assure  yourselves 
they  are  either  preparing  snares  for  us  or  contriving  how  to  raise 
forces  to  destroy  us.  It  behoves  us,  therefore,  to  have  two 
objects  chiefly  in  view  at  these  consultations,  —  first,  how  to 
avoid  the  punishment  for  our  late  actions ;  and,  in  the  next 
place,  to  devise  the  means  of  living  in  a  greater  degree  of  liberty 
and  with  more  satisfaction  for  the  future  than  we  have  done 
hitherto.  To  come  off  with  impunity  for  our  past  offences,  it  is 
necessary  to  add  still  more  to  them,  to  redouble  our  outrages, 
our  robberies  and  burnings,  and  to  do  our  best  to  associate 
numbers  for  our  protection  ;  for  where  many  are  guilty  none  are 
chastised.  Small  crimes  are  punished,  great  ones  rewarded ; 
and  where  many  suffer,  few  seek  revenge  ;  a  general  calamity 
being  always  borne  with  more  patience  than  a  particular  one. 
To  multiply  evils  is  the  surest  way  to  procure  us  a  pardon  for 
what  has  been  already  done,  and  to  obtain  the  liberty  we  desire. 
Nor  is  there  any  difficulty  to  discourage  us.  The  enterprise  is 
easy,  and  the  success  not  to  be  doubted.  Those  who  could 
oppose  us  are  opulent  indeed,  but  divided ;  their  disunion  will 
give  us  the  victory,  and  their  riches  when  we  have  got  them  will 
maintain  it.  Let  not  the  antiquity  of  their  blood,  nor  the 
meanness  of  our  own,  with  which  they  so  insolently  upbraid  us, 
frighten  you.  All  families,  having  the  same  original,  are  of  equal 
antiquity,  and  have  been  made  by  nature  after  one  fashion. 
Let  both  sides  be  stripped  naked,  and  both  will  be  found  alike. 
Clothe  yourselves  in  their  robes  and  them  in  your  rags,  and  then 
you  will  appear  the  nobles  and  they  the  plebeians  ;  for  it  is 
poverty  alone  that  makes  the  real  difference  betwixt  us.  It  fills 
me  with  just  concern,  indeed,  to  hear  that  some  of  you  repent, 
forsooth,  of  what  you  have  done,  and  out  of  a  qualm  of  con 
science  resolve  to  proceed  no  farther ;  certainly,  if  this  be  true, 
you  are  not  the  men  I  took  you  for.  Neither  conscience  nor  the 
fear  of  infamy  ought  to  terrify  you ;  for  those  who  succeed  in 
their  attempts,  let  them  have  used  what  means  soever,  are  never 
disgraced  ;  and  as  for  conscience,  we  have  no  reason  to  give  our 
selves  any  trouble  about  it.  Where  the  dread  of  famine  and 
dungeons  enters,  as  in  our  case,  what  greater  terror  can  or  should 
there  be  in  hell  ?  '  " 

The  speech  is  long,  and  all  in  the  same  strain.     It  so  inflamed 


FLORENCE.  57 

his  audience  that  they  determined  to  rise,  and  took  an  oath  to 
stand  by  each  other.  The  signori  had  secret  information  of  the 
plot,  but  although  they  took  the  best  measures  in  their  power, 
the  government  had  not  sufficient  energy  to  prevent  or  suppress 
the  tumult.  They  burnt  many  houses  and  committed  all  sorts  of 
outrages.  If  any  one  of  the  plebeians  had  been  injured  or 
affronted  by  a  particular  citizen,  he  led  the  mob  directly  to  his 
enemy's  house  ;  nay,  it  was  sufficient  barely  to  mention  the  per 
son's  name,  or  to  call  out  "  to  such  a  man's  house"  or  "  to  such  a 
man's  shop"  They  glutted  themselves  with  mischief,  and  then, 
to  crown  all,  they  knighted  sixty-four  citizens,  among  whom  was 
their  favorite  Sylvestro  de'  Medici.  Their  levity  was  very 
curious,  for  they  conferred  the  honor  of  knighthood  upon  some 
of  those  very  persons  whose  houses  they  had  burnt  down  but  a 
few  hours  before.  Such  is  the  caprice  of  the  multitude,  and  so 
soon  are  their  disgusts  changed  into  favor  and  affection ! 

The  behavior  of  the  signori  and  the  council  of  the  people  was 
such  as  might  be  expected  from  men  conscious  of  having  neither 
dignity  nor  authority  derived  from  the  laws.  Before  a  law 
could  be  passed,  it  was  necessary  it  should  have  the  assent  of 
the  common  council  as  well  as  of  the  signori.  It  was  contrary 
to  established  custom  for  two  councils  to  be  held  on  the  same 
day ;  so  that  when  the  signori  had  agreed,  it  was  necessary  to 
wait  till  next  day  for  the  common  council  to  deliberate  upon  the 
demands  of  the  mob.  These  demands  were  extremely  grievous 
and  dishonorable  to  the  government ;  one  of  them  in  particular, 
that  no  person  that  was  incorporated  into  the  arts  should  be 
compelled  to  pay  any  debt  under  the  sum  of  fifty  ducats  in  two 
years,  at  which  time  the  principal  only  should  be  paid  to  the 
creditor  and  the  interest  into  the  bank.  Yet  the  signori  had 
agreed  to  them,  and  the  common  council  were  the  next  morning 
deliberating ;  the  multitude,  naturally  voluble  and  impatient, 
got  together  again  under  the  palace.  The  law  passed ;  but  the 
destruction  of  the  city  was  not  the  less  expected.  The  signori 
and  counsellors  left  the  palace  one  by  one,  and  the  people 
entered  it. 

Hcec  natura  multitudinis  est ;  aut  servit  humiliter,  aut  superbe 
dominatur.  When  the  people  entered  the  palace,  Michael  di 
Lando,  a  wool-comber,  a  bare-footed,  ragged  fellow,  carried  the 
standard  of  justice  before  them.  "  You  see,  my  friends,"  said 


58  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Michael,  "  this  palace  is  yours,  and  the  city  is  in  your  hands ; 
what  would  you  have  done  now  ?  "  They  unanimously  cried 
out  that  he  should  be  their  chief  magistrate  and  govern  the  city 
as  he  pleased.  Michael,  a  shrewd  fellow,  more  obliged  to  nature 
than  fortune,  accepted  the  government,  with  a  design,  however, 
to  compose  the  city.  To  amuse  the  people,  he  sent  them  to 
search  for  one  Nuto,  the  hangman,1  and  immediately  issued  a 
proclamation  that  nobody  should  dare  to  burn  or  plunder  any 
man's  house  for  the  future ;  and  to  enforce  the  observance  of  it, 
he  ordered  a  gibbet  to  be  erected  in  the  great  piazza.  The  mob 
soon  brought  Master  Nuto  into  the  piazza  and  hung  him  up  by 
one  leg  upon  the  gibbet ;  and  as  every  one  tore  away  a  joint  or  a 
piece  of  his  flesh,  in  two  or  three  minutes  there  was  nothing  left 
of  him  but  the  foot  by  which  he  hung. 

"  Michael  gallantly  new-modelled  the  state,  appointed  new 
signori,  and  gave  the  rents  of  all  the  shops  upon  the  Old  Bridge 
to  Sylvestro  de'  Medici ;  took  a  good  share  to  himself,2  and  was 
very  liberal  to  many  other  citizens  who  had  befriended  the  ple 
beians,  not  only  out  of  gratitude  for  past  favors,  but  to  engage 
them  to  support  him  in  future  against  envy.  But  the  plebeians 
thought  Michael  had  been  too  partial  to  some  of  the  principal 
commoners,  flew  to  arms  again,  appointed  eight  heads  over 
them,  with  other  subordinate  officers  and  magistrates ;  so  that 
the  city  had  now  two  tribunals,  and  was  governed  by  two  dis 
tinct  administrations.  They  took  away  all  honors  and  emolu 
ments  that  had  been  granted  to  Sylvestro  de'  Medici  and  to 
Michael  di  Lando." 

But  Michael  showed  himself,  in  valor,  generosity,  and  pru 
dence,  far  superior  to  any  other  citizen,  and  well  deserves  to  be 
reckoned  among  those  few  that  have  been  real  benefactors  to 
their  country.  If  he  had  been  of  an  ambitious  or  self-interested 
disposition,  the  republic  must  have  relapsed  into  a  more  intolera 
ble  degree  of  servitude  than  it  was  under  the  tyranny  of  the 
Duke  of  Athens ;  but  his  integrity  would  not  suffer  him  to 
cherish  any  design  that  might  be  prejudicial  to  the  good  of  the 
public,  and  his  prudence  taught  him  to  conduct  himself  in  such 
a  manner  as  not  only  gained  him  the  first  place  and  confidence 
of  his  own  party,  but  enabled  him  to  triumph  over  that  of  his 

1  "Bargdlo"  sheriff.  2  "  La  podesteria  d'  Empoli" 


FLORENCE.  59 

enemies.  He  suppressed  this  new  rebellion  against  his  author 
ity  with  great  address  and  spirit ;  and  those  proceedings  struck  a 
terror  into  the  plebeians  and  opened  the  eyes  of  the  better  sort 
of  people,  who  could  not  help  wondering  at  their  own  stupidity, 
that  after  they  had  suppressed  the  pride  of  the  nobility,  they 
could  so  patiently  submit  to  be  insulted  by  the  very  dregs  and 
refuse  of  the  city. 

"  When  Michael  obtained  this  complete  victory  over  the  ple 
beians,  the  new  signori  were  already  appointed,  two  of  whom 
were  of  so  base  and  abject  condition,  that  every  one  seemed 
desirous  to  be  rid  of  such  infamous  magistrates.  As  they 
entered  on  the  magistracy,  there  was  an  uproar  in  the  piazza, 
which  was  full  of  armed  men,  who  shouted  with  one  voice,  '  No 
plebeians  1  in  the  signori ! '  The  rest  of  the  signori,  in  order  to 
appease  the  tumult,  degraded  their  two  associates  and  chose  two 
others  in  their  room  ;  they  likewise  dissolved  the  plebeian  com 
panies,  and  deprived  all  those  of  their  offices  who  had  any  con 
nection  with  them,  except  Michael  and  a  few  of  the  best  of  them. 
They  also  divided  the  subordinate  magistracy  into  two  separate 
jurisdictions,  one  of  which  was  to  preside  over  the  greater  arts, 
and  the  other  over  the  less.  For  the  signori  it  was  only  pro 
vided  in  general  that  five  of  that  body  should  be  drawn  out  of 
the  less  companies  and  four  out  of  the  greater,  and  the  standard- 
bearer  alternately  out  of  each." 

Sylvestro  de'  Medici  and  a  few  others  who  had  promoted  this 
new  regulation  became  in  a  manner  the  chief  governors  of  the 
city.  These  proceedings  and  this  new  model  of  government 
revived  the  old  divisions  betwixt  the  more  considerable  com 
moners  and  the  lower  sort  of  mechanics,  which  had  first  been 
occasioned  by  the  ambition  of  the  Ricci  and  Albizzi ;  and  be 
cause  they  afterwards  produced  terrible  consequences,  Machia- 
avel  henceforward  distinguishes  these  two  factions  by  the  names 
of  the  popular  and  plebeian. 

"  Though  this  constitution  of  government  lasted  but  three 
years,  it  abounded  with  executions  and  banishments ;  for  as 
those  who  were  chiefly  concerned  in  the  administration  well 
knew  there  were  great  numbers  of  malcontents,  both  within  the 
city  and  without  it,  they  lived  in  perpetual  fear  and  alarm.  The 


1     (C 


Del  popolo  minuto"    Machiav. 


60  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

disaffected  within  the  walls  either  actually  did,  or  were  sup 
posed  to  cabal  daily  against  the  state  ;  and  those  without  were 
continually  raising  disturbances  abroad  by  the  assistance  of 
foreign  princes  or  republics,  sometimes  in  one  part,  sometimes 
in  another.  In  such  a  government  the  laws  are  insulted  by 
every  party  in  turn.  Accusations  were  laid  before  the  magistrates 
against  a  number  of  citizens  for  corresponding  with  the  exiles 
at  Bologna,  concerning  a  plot  against  the  city ;  the  prisoners 
were  examined,  and  nothing  criminal  could  be  proved  against 
them.  The  magistrate  was  going  to  acquit  and  discharge  them ; 
the  people  rose  in  such  a  ferment  of  clamor  and  calumnies  that 
the  magistrate  was  forced  to  pass  sentence  of  death  upon  them. 

"  Their  execution  occasioned  fresh  murmurs  and  discontents 
in  the  city,  so  that  both  those  who  had  got  the  upper  hand,  and 
those  who  were  depressed,  lived  in  continual  fear  and  suspicion 
of  each  other.  Dreadful  indeed  were  the  consequences  which 
flowed  from  the  apprehension  of  the  former,  as  every  little  acci 
dent  furnished  them  with  a  handle  to  trample  on  their  fellow- 
citizens,  some  of  whom  they  daily  put  to  death,  or  sent  into  exile. 
They  likewise  made  several  new  laws  to  strengthen  their  hands, 
and  keep  those  down  of  whom  they  entertained  the  least  suspi 
cion.  These  suspicions  growing  stronger  and  stronger  every  day, 
made  them  behave  with  more  rigor  to  the  other  party;  a  manner 
of  proceeding  that  only  served  to  multiply  their  discontents,  and 
to  increase  instead  of  allaying  their  own  fears,  which  were  not  a 
little  heightened  by  the  insolence  of  Georgio  Scali  and  Tomaso 
Strozzi,  whose  authority  was  much  superior  to  that  of  the  magis 
trates  ;  and  therefore  they  all  stood  in  awe  of  those  two  citizens, 
as  they  knew  it  was  in  their  power,  if  they  should  join  the  ple 
beians,  to  turn  them  entirely  out  of  the  administration. 

"  This  intemperate  and  tyrannical  manner  of  governing  began 
to  grow  intolerable,  not  only  to  all  good  citizens,  but  even  to  the 
seditious  themselves ;  and  it  was  not  possible  that  the  arrogance 
of  Scali  in  particular  could  be  long  supported.  By  delivering  a 
friend  and  tool  of  his  out  of  the  hands  of  justice,  by  a  mob,  he 
soon  furnished  his  enemies  with  a  fair  opportunity  not  only  of 
wreaking  their  own  private  revenge  upon  him,  but  of  delivering 
the  commonwealth  out  of  his  hands,  and  the  hands  of  the  ple 
beians,  who  had  so  unmercifully  tyrannized  over  it  for  three 
years. 


FLORENCE.  61 

"  They  engaged  in  this  design  Benedetto,  a  man  of  immense 
fortune,  very  humane,  strict  in  his  morals  and  principles,  a  steady 
friend  to  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and  sufficiently  disgusted  at 
the  tyrannical  proceedings  of  the  government,  so  that  it  was  no 
difficult  matter  to  engage  him  in  any  measures  that  might  con 
tribute  to  the  downfall  of  Scali.  As  the  insolence  and  oppression 
of  the  principal  commoners  had  made  him  their  enemy,  and  a 
friend  to  the  plebeians,  so,  when  he  saw  the  latter  pursuing  the 
very  same  measures,  he  quickly  detached  himself  from  them. 
Having  brought  Benedetto  and  the  heads  of  the  arts  into  their 
design,  they  seized  upon  Scali,  and  the  next  day  he  was  beheaded ;  * 
which  struck  such  a  terror  into  his  party,  that  not  one  of  them 
offered  to  stir  in  his  favor,  though  they  crowded  in  great  numbers 
to  see  his  execution.  When  he  came  to  suffer  death,  in  the  face 
of  that  very  people  who  had  so  lately  worshipped  him  with  a 
degree  of  idolatry,  he  could  not  help  complaining  of  the  hardness 
of  his  destiny,  and  of  the  wickedness  of  those  citizens  who,  by 
their  oppressions,  had  forced  him  to  caress  a  rabble,  in  which  he 
found  there  was  neither  honor  nor  gratitude.  He  bewailed  his 
folly  in  having  trusted  to  the  fidelity  of  plebeians,  which  he  might 
well  have  known  is  ever  liable  to  be  shaken  and  seduced  by  any 
little  suspicion,  misrepresentation,  or  blast  of  envy.  He  told 
Benedetto,  '  This  is  the  last  day  of  my  misfortunes,  and  the  first 
of  yours.'  After  him,  some  of  his  chief  confidants  were  put  to 
death,  and  their  bodies  dragged  through  the  streets  by  the  people. 

"  His  death  threw  the  whole  city  into  a  ferment.  As  the  city 
was  full  of  different  humors,  every  one  had  a  separate  view,  and 
was  eager  to  accomplish  it  before  he  laid  down  his  arms.  The 
ancient  nobility,  now  called  grandees,  could  not  bear  to  live  any 
longer  without  some  share  in  the  public  honors,  and  exerted  their 
utmost  efforts  to  recover  them ;  for  which  purpose  they  endea 
vored  to  have  the  captains  of  the  party  restored  to  their  former 
authority.  The  heads  of  the  popular  faction,  and  the  greater 
arts,  were  disgusted  that  the  government  of  the  state  was  shared 
in  common  with  them  by  the  inferior  arts  or  plebeians ;  the  infe 
rior  arts,  instead  of  giving  up  any  part  of  their  authority,  were 
very  desirous  to  increase  it,  and  the  plebeians  were  afraid  of  hav 
ing  their  new  companies  dissolved.  From  these  different  views 


*  Nerli,  p.  28. 
VOL.  V.  6 


62  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

and  apprehensions  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  in  Florence  but 
tumults  for  a  whole  year.  Sometimes  the  grandees,  sometimes 
the  greater,  sometimes  the  lesser  arts,  and  sometimes  the  ple 
beians,  were  in  an  uproar ;  and  it  often  happened  that  they  all 
took  arms  at  the  same  time  in  different  parts  of  the  city." 

After  many  mischiefs,  dangers,  and  troubles,  and  many  con 
sultations  and  conferences,  a  new  form  of  government  was  esta 
blished.*  All  were  recalled  who  had  been  banished  since  Sylvestro 
de'  Medici  was  standard-bearer;  all  offices  and  appointments 
conferred  in  1378  were  abolished ;  the  new  companies  dissolved, 
and  reincorporated  in  their  respective  arts;  the  inferior  arts  were 
not  to  choose  any  standard-bearer  of  justice ;  instead  of  enjoying 
one  half  of  the  public  honors,  they  were  now  limited  to  one  third, 
and  those  too  of  the  lower  rank.  The  popular  nobility  and  the 
Guelphs  reassumed  their  superiority;  and  the  plebeians  were  ut 
terly  dispossessed  of  it,  after  they  had  held  it  from  1378  to  1381. 

"But  the  new  administration  was  no  less  grievous  and  oppressive 
than  that  of  the  plebeians  had  been ;  several  of  the  popular  nobi 
lity,  and  many  of  the  heads  of  the  plebeians,  were  banished,  and 
among  the  rest  Michael,!  whom  the  remembrance  of  his  former 
great  merit,  in  restraining  the  fury  of  the  populace  when  so  licen 
tiously  plundering  the  city,  was  not  sufficient  to  protect  from  the 
resentment  of  the  governing  party.  From  such  impolitic  pro 
ceedings  in  princes  and  governors  of  commonwealths,  it  happens 
that  men,  naturally  growing  disgusted  with  their  ill-timed  severity 
and  ingratitude,  often  incur  their  displeasure  before  they  are 
aware  of  it. 

"As  such  executions  and  banishments  had  ever  been  disap 
proved  of  by  Benedetto,  he  could  not  help  blaming  the  authors 
of  these ;  upon  which  the  government  began  to  grow  jealous  of 
him,  as  a  favorer  of  the  plebeian  party,  and  one  that  had  con 
sented  to  the  death  of  Scali,  not  out  of  any  real  disapprobation 
of  his  conduct,  but  that  he  might  the  more  easily  get  the  reins 
of  government  into  his  own  hands.  They  kept  a  strict  watch 
over  him,  and  resolved  to  ruin  him.  Intrigues  were  soon  laid, 
by  which  Benedetto  was  sent  into  banishment.^  '  You  see,  my 
dear  friends,'  said  he,  when  he  took  leave  of  them,  'in  what 

*  Nerli,  p.  28.  t  Ibid.  P-  29. 

J  Pervenne  in  que'  tempi  al  supremo  magistrate  Bardo  Mancini,  uomo  molto 
coritrario  alia  setta  plebea,  e  molto  nemico  per  queste,  e  per  altre  cagioni  di 


FLORENCE.  63 

manner  fortune  has  contrived  my  ruin,  and  how  she  still  threat 
ens  you ;  at  which  neither  do  I  wonder  nor  should  you :  it  is  the 
lot  of  those  who  endeavor  to  maintain  their  integrity  among  the 
wicked,  and  who  desire  to  sustain  that  which  more  desire  to 
destroy.  From  the  same  principle  of  love  to  my  country  which 
once  induced  me  to  join  Sylvestro  de'  Medici,  and  afterwards  to 
separate  myself  from  Scali,  I  could  not  forbear  censuring  the 
proceedings  of  those  who  are  now  at  the  helm,  who,  having 
nobody  to  chastise  them,  are  likewise  desirous  to  get  rid  of  every 
one  who  dares  to  reprehend  them.'  He  preserved  his  character 
for  piety  and  humanity  abroad,  and  there  died.  His  bones  were 
brought  back  to  Florence,  and  interred  there  with  the  highest 
honors  by  those  very  people  who  had  persecuted  him  while  alive 
with  so  much  rancor  and  injustice." 

"  The  family  of  the  Alberti  were  not  the  only  sufferers  in 
these  distractions,  for  many  other  citizens  were  either  admonished 
or  sent  into  exile.  The  members  of  this  balia  having  done  what 
they  were  deputed  for,  were  going  to  break  up,  as  they  thought 
it  would  have  an  appearance  of  modesty;  but  the  people,  hearing 
of  their  resolution,  ran  to  arms  in  the  palace,  and  insisted  that 
they  should  banish  and  admonish  several  others  before  they 
resigned  their  authority." 

"  Nevertheless,  to  diminish  the  authority  of  the  plebeians  still 
more,  the  signori  made  a  decree,  that  the  third  part  of  the  honors 
which  they  before  enjoyed  should  be  reduced  to  a  fourth ;  and, 
that  there  might  be  two  at  least  in  the  signori,  always  of  approved 
fidelity  to  the  government,  they  gave  the  gonfalonier,  and  four 
other  citizens,  authority  to  make  a  fresh  imborsation,  and  to  put 
the  names  of  a  select  number  of  citizens  into  a  particular  purse, 
out  of  which  two  of  every  new  signory  should  always  be  drawn." 

"  Tranquillity  now  continued  till  1387,  when  Giovanni  Gale- 
azzo  Viconti,  commonly  called  the  Conte  di  Virtu,  thought  to 
make  himself  King  of  Italy  by  arms,  as  he  had  made  himself 

Messer  Benedetto  Alberti,  e  conosciuto  Bardo  la  gelosia,  che  cittadini  del  governo 
avevano  di  quella  casa  de  gli  Alberti,  con  partecipazione  de'  principal!  della  setta 
de  nobili,  fece  creare  una  balia  per  sicurta  dello  stato,  nella  quale  intra  le  prime 
cose  si  deliberd,  che  Messer  Benedetto  fusse  confinato,  e  il  resto  de  gli  Alberti 
tutti  ammuniti ;  e  furono  costretti  i  signori  per  gelosia  de  capi  della  setta,  che 
molti  altri  cittadini  tanto  popolani,  che  plebei,  fusse  confmati,  o  ammuniti,  e  per 
ridurre  piu  il  governo  a  parte  nobile,  e  per  piu  avvilire  gli  avversari  artefici  e 
popolo  minuto,  £c.  Nerli,  p.  29,  SO. 


64  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Duke  of  Milan  by  treachery;  but  after  making  himself  master  of 
Bologna,  Pisa,  Perugia,  and  Siena,  and  preparing  to  be  crowned 
King  of  Italy  at  Florence,  he  died.* 

"  During  the  war  with  the  Duke,  Maso  de  gli  Albizzi  was  gon 
falonier,  a  bitter  enemy  to  the  Alberti.  He  resolved,  though 
Benedetto  was  now  dead,  to*be  revenged,  before  he  went  out  of 
office,  on  the  rest  of  that  family,  for  Pietro's  unfortunate  end. 
He  accused  the  two  heads  of  the  family  of  corresponding  with 
the  exiles,  and  took  them  into  custody.  Upon  this  the  whole 
city  was  in  an  uproar.  The  signori  called  the  people  together, 
and  appointed  a  new  balia,  by  which  many  citizens,  besides 
almost  all  the  Alberti,  were  banished,  and  many  artificers  admo 
nished  or  put  to  death,  and  a  fresh  imborsation  of  magistrates 
was  made.  This  tyrannical  manner  of  proceeding  so  enraged 
the  arts  and  lower  sort  of  people,  who  now  saw  their  lives  and 
honors  wantonly  taken  away,  that  they  rose  in  arms,  some  of 
them  running  to  the  piazza,  and  others  to  the  house  of  Veri  de' 
Medici,  who,  after  the  death  of  Sylvester,  was  become  the  head 
of  that  family,  and  earnestly  entreated  him  to  take  the  govern 
ment  into  his  hands,  and  deliver  them  from  the  oppression  of 
citizens,  who  were  daily  endeavoring  to  destroy  the  common 
wealth,  and  every  good  man  in  it." 

Antonio  de'  Medici  was  most  importunate  with  him,  though 
they  had  been  long  at  open  enmity.  All  writers  agree,  that  if 
Veri  had  been  as  ambitious  as  he  was  virtuous,  he  might  have 
made  himself  lord  of  the  city  ;  but  he  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  people,  marched  to  the  piazza,  and  there  publicly  refused 
to  do  any  thing  unconstitutional,  but  prayed  the  signori  to 
redress  the  grievances  of  the  people. 

"  They  highly  commended  him,  and  promised  to  give  all 
satisfaction.  Upon  these  assurances,  and  a  reliance  on  Veri's 
word,  the  people  returned  to  their  houses.  As  soon  as  the 
tumult  was  composed,  the  signori,  instead  of  fulfilling  their 
promises,  fortified  the  piazza,  enrolled  two  thousand  citizens  to 
defend  them,  forbid  all  others  to  bear  arms,  put  many  citizens 
to  death,  and  banished  others,  who  had  been  most  active  in 
the  late  insurrection.  The  few  Alberti  who  were  left,  and 
the  Medici,  thought  themselves  and  the  people  deceived,  and 

*  Nerli,  p.  30. 


FLORENCE.  65 

were  extremely  disgusted  by  these  proceedings ;  but  the  first 
who  had  courage  to  oppose  them  was  Donato  Acciaivoli,  one 
of  the  grandees,  rather  superior  to  Maso  Albizzi,  who,  by  the 
steps  he  had  taken  while  he  was  gonfalonier,  was  become  in  a 
manner  the  head  of  the  commonwealth.  Donato  endeavored 
to  get  those  who  had  been  sent  into  exile  recalled,  and  those 
who  had  been  admonished  requalified  to  hold  their  former 
honors  and  employments.  He  first  attempted  it  by  persuasion, 
but  not  succeeding,  he  threatened  to  do  it  by  force.  For  this 
he  was  cited,  convicted,  and  banished  to  Barletta.  Alamanno, 
and  Antonio  de'  Medici,  and  all  those  who  were  of  Alamanno's 
family,  with  many  of  the  inferior  arts,  who  had  any  interest 
among  the  plebeians,  were  likewise  banished.  All  these  things 
happened  within  two  years  after  Maso  de  gli  Albizzi  had  assumed 
the  government. 

In  1397,  the  exiles  at  Bologna,  spirited  young  men,  among 
whom  was  Antonio  de'  Medici,  depending  upon  the  people's 
rising  in  their  favor,  determined  at  all  events  to  return  to  their 
country  and  assassinate  Maso ;  but  either  from  a  terror  of  the 
government,  or  prejudice  against  the  exiles,  the  people  would 
not  move  ;  and  the  conspirators  fled  to  the  church,  where  they 
were  put  to  death.*  This  conspiracy  was  scarcely  quashed, 
when  another  one  still  more  dangerous,  of  other  exiles  scattered 
over  Lornbardy,  in  concert  with  the  Duke  of  Milan,  was  dis 
covered  ;  but  this  was  defeated,  and  the  authors  punished. 
Then  a  new  balia  was  instituted,  with  authority  to  provide 
for  the  safety  of  the  commonwealth.  By  this  council,  six 
of  the  Ricci,  six  of  the  Alberti,  two  of  the  Medici,  three  of 
the  Scali,  two  of  the  Strozzi,  and  many  others  of  lower  condi 
tion,  were  proclaimed  rebels ;  all  the  rest  of  the  Alberti,  Ricci, 
and  Medici,  except  some  very  few,  were  rendered  incapable  of 
holding  any  office  for  ten  years.  One  of  the  Alberti  only  was 
spared  on  account  of  his  quiet  character,  Antonio ;  but  the 
government  was  jealous  of  him,  and  soon  found  a  pretence  for 
banishing  him  to  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles  from  the 
city ;  and  to  free  the  government  from  the  continual  apprehen 
sions  they  lived  under  of  the  Alberti,  they  banished  all  that 
family  that  were  above  fifteen  years  of  age.  These  things  hap 
pened  in  1400.f 

*  Nerli,  p.  32.  f  Id-  P-  33- 

E 


66  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  In  1412,  some  of  the  Albert!  returned  from  banishment,  and 
another  balia  was  appointed,  which  made  new  laws  for  the 
security  of  the  state,  and  inflicted  other  penalties  on  the  family. 

"  In  1414  ended  the  war  with  Ladislaus,  King  of  Naples, 
whose  death  delivered  Florence  from  as  much  danger  as  that  of 
the  Conte  di  Virtu  had  done." 

The  period  from  1371  to  1434,  is  that  which  is  boasted  of  by 
Machiavel  as  the  prosperous  one,  but  the  prosperity  of  which  he 
attributes  to  the  virtues  and  abilities  of  Maso.  Pisa,  Cortona, 
Arezzo,  Leghorn,  and  Monte  Pulciano,  were  added  to  the  dominion. 

"  All  republics,  especially  such  as  are  not  well  constituted, 
undergo  frequent  changes  in  their  laws  and  manner  of  govern 
ment.  And  this  is  not  owing  to  the  nature  either  of  liberty  or 
subjection  in  general,  as  many  think,  but  to  downright  oppres 
sion  on  one  hand,  or  unbridled  licentiousness  on  the  other.1 " 

It  is  very  true  that  most  republics  have  undergone  frequent 
changes  in  their  laws;  but  this  has  been  merely  because  very 
few  republics  have  been  well  constituted.  It  is  very  true  also, 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  liberty,  or  of  obedience, 
which  tends  to  produce  such  changes ;  on  the  contrary,  real 
liberty  and  true  obedience  rather  tend  to  preserve  constancy  in 
government.  It  is,  indeed,  oppression  and  license  that  occasion 
changes ;  but  where  the  constitution  is  good,  the  laws  govern, 
and  prevent  oppression  as  well  as  license. 

"  The  name  of  liberty  is  often  nothing  more  than  a  specious 
pretence,2  made  use  of  both  by  the  instruments  of  licentious 
ness,  who  for  the  most  part  are  commoners,  and  by  the  promoters 
of  slavery,  who  generally  are  the  nobles,  each  side  being  equally 
impatient  of  restraint  and  control." 

This  is  a  truth,  which  is  proved  as  well  as  illustrated  by 
every  page  of  the  foregoing  history,  as  well  as  by  the  history  of 
almost  all  other  republics,  ancient  and  modern ;  and  the  next 
paragraph  shows  that  Machiavel  had  an  accurate  idea  of  the  evil, 
though  a  confused  one  of  the  remedy. 

1  Lib.  iv.     Non  mediante  la  liberta  e  la  servitu,  come  molti  credono,  ma  me- 
diante  la  servitu  e  la  licenza.      "  Not  through  liberty  and  servitude,  as  many 
think,  but  through  servitude  and  licentiousness."      The  idea  is  somewhat  ob 
scurely  expressed,  and  needs  the  aid  of  the  following  sentence  which  is  found 
translated  below. 

2  Perche  della  libertA  solamente  il  nome  £  celebrate.     "  For  the  name  only 
of  liberty  is  commended  by,"  &c. 


FLORENCE.  67 

"  When  it  fortunately  happens,  which  indeed  is  very  seldom, 
that  some  wise,  good,  and  powerful  citizen,  has  sufficient  au 
thority  in  the  commonwealth  to  make  such  laws  as  may  extin 
guish  all  jealousies  betwixt  the  nobility  and  the  people,  or  at 
least,  so  to  moderate  and  restrain  them,  that  they  shall  not  be 
able  to  produce  any  bad  effect,  then  that  state  may  properly 
be  called  free,  and  its  constitution  looked  upon  as  firm  and 
permanent ;  for  being  once  established  upon  good  laws  and 
institutions,  it  has  no  further  occasion,  like  other  states,  for  the 
virtue  of  any  particular  man  to  support  it." 

One  would  be  apt  to  conjecture  from  this,  that  Machiavel 
was  about  to  propose  a  first  magistrate,  armed  by  the  constitu 
tion  with  sufficient  authority  to  mediate,  at  all  times,  between 
the  nobles  and  commons.  Such  a  magistrate,  possessed  of  the 
whole  executive  power,  with  a  negative  to  defend  it,  has  always 
authority  to  intervene  between  the  nobles  and  commons,  and  to 
preserve  the  energy  of  the  laws  to  restrain  both ;  and  whether 
this  executive  magistrate  is  wise  and  good  or  not,  if  the  com 
mons  have  the  negative  upon  the  purse  and  the  laws,  and  the 
inquest  of  grievances,  abuses,  and  state  crimes,  that  executive 
power  can  hardly  be  ill  used. 

"  On  such  laws  and  principles  many  of  those  ancient  common 
wealths,  which  so  long  subsisted,  were  formerly  constituted." 

Rome  and  Sparta  were,  in  some  degree,  constituted  upon 
these  principles,  and  in  proportion  as  they  conformed  to  them, 
they  were  free  and  happy  ;  but  neither  was  perfectly  conformed 
to  them. 

"  For  want  of  them,  others  have  often  varied  their  form  of 
government  from  tyranny  to  license,  and  from  license  to  ty 
ranny  ; "  and  for  want  of  them,  such  will  ever  be  the  vibra 
tion.  "  For  as  each  of  those  states  always  has  powerful  ene 
mies  to  contend  with,  it  neither  is,  nor  can  be  possible  they 
should  be  of  any  long  duration ; "  and  while  they  last,  the 
liberty  and  happiness  of  the  citizens  are  constantly  sacrificed. 
"  All  good  and  wise  men  must  of  necessity  be  disgusted  at 
them."  So  much  so,  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  chance  and 
hope  of  obtaining  a  better  constitution  after  all  the  changes, 
any  man  of  that  character  would  prefer  a  simple  monarchy  at 
once.  "  Since  much  evil  may  very  easily  be  done  in  the  former 
and  hardly  any  good  in  the  latter;  the  insolent  having  too 


68  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

much  authority  in  one,  and  the  ignorant  and  inexperienced  in 
the  other."  These  characters  of  simple  aristocracies  and  simple 
democracies,  which  succeed  each  other  so  rapidly  where  the 
third  power  is  not  introduced  to  control  and  moderate  both  the 
nobles  and  people,  are  very  just ;  and  Machiavel  says  what  is 
near  the  truth,  "  both  must  be  upheld  by  the  spirit  and  fortune 
of  one  man  alone,  who  yet  may  either  be  suddenly  taken  off  by 
death  or  overpowered  by  adversity."  It  is  a  pity  he  had  not 
said,  parties  must  be  upheld  together  by  the  constitutional,  legal 
authority  of  one  man  alone,  possessed  of  the  whole  executive 
power  of  the  state,  and  then,  if  he  is  taken  off  by  death,  another 
will  succeed  ;  if  he  be  overpowered  by  adversity,  the  whole  state 
must  be  overpowered  with  him ;  and  no  form  of  government 
can  be  devised  to  warrant  states  against  pestilence,  earthquake, 
and  famine,  the  inevitable  and  irresistible  judgments  of  heaven. 

"  I  say,  therefore,  that  the  model  of  government  which  took 
place  in  Florence  after  the  death  of  Scali,  in  1381,  was  at  first 
solely  maintained  by  the  conduct  of  Maso  de  gli  Albizzi,  and 
afterwards  by  that  of  Niccolo  Uzzano."  This  is  a  strong  instance 
of  the  efficiency  of  one  man,  so  situated  as  to  be  able  to  mediate 
between  the  aristocratical  and  democratical  ingredients  in  society, 
and  an  argument  for  providing  such  an  officer  by  the  constitu 
tion,  whose  duty  and  business  it  shall  always  be  to  act  the  same 
part ;  nay,  who  shall  be  necessitated,  from  the  principle  of  self- 
preservation  and  self-defence,  to  preserve  the  balance  between 
them. 

"  The  city  continued  in  tranquillity  from  1414  to  1422,  eight 
years  ;  Uzzano  and  six  others  had  the  chief  authority.  Those 
animosities,  however,  which  were  at  first  kindled  in  the  city  by 
the  quarrel  betwixt  the  Albizzi  and  the  Ricci,  and  afterwards 
blown  up  to  such  height  by  Sylvestro  de'  Medici,  were  never 
extinguished ;  and  although  that  party  which  had  the  largest 
share  in  the  affections  of  the  people  continued  only  three  years 
in  the  administration,  and  was  turned  out  of  it  in  1381,  yet  as 
they  were  favored  and  supported  by  the  greater  part  of  the  citi 
zens,  they  could  not  be  totally  suppressed.  The  frequent  admo 
nitions  and  continual  persecutions  that  were  carried  on  against 
the  heads  of  it,  from  1381  to  1400,  had  indeed  brought  them 
very  low.  The  Alberti  and  the  Medici  suffered  most  by  these 
proceedings.  Several  of  them  had  their  estates  confiscated ; 


FLORENCE.  69 

others  were  banished  or  put  to  death ;  and  those  who  were 
suffered  to  continue  in  the  city  were  deprived  of  all  their  honors 
and  employments,  by  which  their  party  was  much  depressed 
and  almost  reduced  to  nothing.  They  retained,  however,  sharp 
resentments,  and  determined  to  take  revenge,  though  under  the 
present  circumstances  they  thought  proper  to  dissemble." 

This  administration,  composed  of  the  most  considerable  com 
moners  or  popular  nobility,  which  had  kept  the  city  so  long  in 
peace,  at  last  were  guilty  of  two  errors  in  point  of  conduct, 
which  proved  their  ruin.  As  soon  as  they  thought  themselves 
safe  from  the  attempts  of  the  Alberti,  they  grew  insolent  and 
they  quarrelled  among  themselves  ;  two  faults  that  have  ever 
been  committed  by  every  single  assembly,  whether  of  nobles  or 
commons  ;  and  which  ever  must  be  committed  by  all  that  are 
to  come. 

"  Amidst  their  supineness,  oppressions,  and  divisions,  the 
Medici  recovered  their  former  authority  and  power.  The  first 
of  this  family  that  began  to  lift  up  his  head  again  was  Giovanni,* 
the  son  of  Bicci  de'  Medici,  who  being  a  man  of  great  humanity, 
and  grown  very  rich,  was  admitted  to  a  share  in  the  government 
of  the  state,  at  which  there  were  such  extraordinary  rejoicings 
among  the  people,  that  many  of  the  graver  sort  of  the  citizens 
were  not  a  little  alarmed  when  they  saw  the  old  humors  began 
to  show  themselves  again.  Uzzano  represented  to  his  col 
leagues  f  that  he  knew  Giovanni  was  a  person  of  much  greater 
influence  and  abilities  than  ever  Sylvestro  had  been,  and  that  it 
was  dangerous  to  promote  a  man  of  so  general  a  reputation  to 
such  a  degree  of  power ;  but  the  rest  of  the  governors  envied 
Uzzano' s  reputation,  and  were  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  any 
assistance  to  ruin  him  ;  so  that  Giovanni  was  set  up,  as  it  often 
happens,  to  pull  down  Uzzano." 

When  a  popular  assembly  or  a  senate  have  the  management 
of  the  executive  power,  disputes  forever  arise  concerning  every 
step  in  foreign  affairs,  and  discords  and  factions  have  full  play. 
Thus  it  happened  in  Florence  upon  occasion  of  a  negotiation 
with  Philip  Visconti,  Lord  of  Lombardy.  Every  faction  had  a 
different  opinion.  That,  however,  in  favor  of  a  war  prevailed. 
Ten  superintendents  of  the  war  were  appointed,  soldiers  were 

*  Nerli,  p.  34.  f  Nerli,  p.  34,  35. 


70  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

raised,  and  taxes  imposed,  which  occasioned  great  murmurs 
in  the  city.  The  taxes  were  said  to  be  heavier  on  the  poor  than 
the  rich ;  every  one  exclaimed  against  the  oppression  of  the 
governors  who  had  wantonly  embroiled  the  state  in  an  expen 
sive  and  unnecessary  war,  only  to  gratify  their  own  private  inter 
ests  and  ambition,  and  to  establish  themselves  in  then*  tyranny. 
The  majority  of  the  governors  at  last  judged  it  necessary  to 
declare  war,  notwithstanding  that  the  resolution  still  met  with 
great  opposition,  especially  from  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  who  pub 
licly  protested  against  it,  and  occasioned  a  multitude  of  argu 
ments  pro  and  con.  The  war  was  unfortunate,  and  a  battle 
was  lost  by  the  badness  of  the  weather ;  this  misfortune  occa 
sioned  great  consternation  in  Florence,  especially  among  the 
governing  party  who  had  been  its  chief  promoters  ;  they  saw  the 
enemy  powerful  and  elated,  themselves  disarmed  and  without 
allies,  and  what  was  worse,  hated  to  the  last  degree  by  the  peo 
ple,  who  insulted  them  whenever  they  appeared  in  the  streets, 
complaining  of  insupportable  taxes,  and  upbraiding  them  with 
the  heavy  expenses  of  an  unnecessary  war. 

Machiavel  enumerates  the  taunts  which  fury  suggested  upon 
this  occasion  to  an  enraged  and  unbridled  multitude.  The 
signori  called  a  meeting  of  the  principal  citizens,  and  earnestly 
exhorted  them  to  use  their  good  offices  to  soothe  the  people  and 
appease  the  general  indignation  which  their  clamors  had  excited. 
Rinaldo,  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  Maso  de  gli  Albizzi,  having 
secretly  entertained  some  hopes  of  becoming  sole  governor  of 
the  republic  by  the  merit  of  his  own  services  and  the  reputation 
of  his  father,  made  a  long  speech  in  justification  of  the  war. 

A  commission  was  given  to  twenty  citizens  to  raise  further 
supplies  for  the  maintenance  of  the  war,  who  seeing  the  govern 
ing  party  now  humbled,  took  courage  and  laid  the  chief  burden 
of  the  taxes  upon  their  shoulders,  at  which  they  were  not  a  little 
mortified  in  their  turn.  They  complained  of  it  as  too  heavy  ; 
but  when  this  came  to  the  ears  of  the  council  they  took  effectual 
care  to  have  it  collected  ;  and,  in  order  to  make  all  impositions 
appear  for  the  future  the  more  grievous  and  hateful  to  the  people, 
they  gave  a  strict  charge  to  their  officers  to  collect  this  with  the 
utmost  rigor,  and  to  kill  any  one  that  should  dare  to  oppose 
them  or  refuse  to  pay  it ;  and  so  many  were  murdered  or 
wounded  that  it  was  apprehended  the  two  parties  would  come 


FLORENCE.  71 

to  blows  ;  for  those  who  had  been  so  long  in  power  and  used  to 
be  treated  with  such  reverence  and  distinction  could  not  bear 
the  thoughts  of  being  insulted  in  this  manner ;  and  the  other 
side  were  resolved  that  every  man  in  his  turn  should  equally 
feel  the  sting  of  these  oppressions. 

"  The  principal  citizens  had  now  many  private  conferences, 
but  Giovanni  was  not  there ;  either  because  he  was  not  invited 
as  a  person  in  whom  they  could  not  thoroughly  confide,  or 
refused  to  come  because  he  did  not  approve  of  such  cabals. 

"  Rinaldo  de  gli  Albizzi  made  an  harangue.  He  represented 
how  the  government  had  again  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  peo 
ple,  from  whom  their  fathers  had  recovered  it  in  1381.  He 
reminded  them  of  the  tyranny  of  those  who  were  in  the  admin 
istration  from  1377  till  that  time,  in  which  interval  either  the 
father  or  grandfather,  or  some  near  relation,  of  almost  every  one 
who  was  then  present  had  been  unjustly  put  to  death.  That  the 
city  was  now  going  to  relapse  into  the  same  state  of  confusion 
and  oppression,  since  the  multitude  had  already  taken  upon  them 
to  impose  taxes  ;  and  if  not  either  curbed  by  force,  or  restrained 
by  some  other  expedient,  they  would  certainly  in  the  next  place 
proceed  to  appoint  such  officers  as  they  thought  fit ;  after  which 
they  would  turn  the  present  magistrates  out  of  their  seats,  to  the 
utter  destruction  of  an  administration  which  had  governed  the 
city  with  so  much  glory  and  reputation  for  forty-two  years  ;  the 
consequence  of  which  would  be  that  Florence  must  either  be 
blindly  governed  by  the  caprice  of  the  multitude,  and  then  one 
party  would  live  in  continual  danger  and  apprehension  while  the 
other  rioted  in  all  manner  of  licentiousness,  or  it  must  fall  under 
the  subjection  of  some  one  person  who  would  make  himself 
absolute  lord,  and  perhaps  tyrant  over  it.  As  the  audaciousness 
of  the  multitude  was  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  largeness 
of  the  imborsations,  and  the  little  care  that  was  taken  in  making 
them,  which  had  filled  the  palace  with  new  and  mean  men,  he 
thought  the  only  remedy  for  such  disorders  would  be  to  restore 
the  authority  of  the  nobility,  and  diminish  that  of  the  minor  arts, 
by  reducing  them  from  fourteen  to  seven.  This  would  lessen 
the  power  of  the  plebeians  in  the  councils,  both  by  retrenching 
their  number  and  by  throwing  more  weight  into  the  scale  of  the 
grandees,  who  would,  out  of  revenge  for  old  injuries,  be  sure  to 
use  all  possible  endeavors  to  depress  them.  That  wise  men 


72  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

always  availed  themselves  of  different  sorts  of  people  at  differ 
ent  seasons  ;  and  if  their  fathers  had  made  use  of  the  assistance 
of  the  plebeians  to  humble  the  insolence  of  the  grandees,  now 
the  latter  were  brought  so  low,  and  the  former  become  so  auda 
cious,  it  would  be  no  bad  expedient  to  join  with  the  grandees 
to  lower  them. 

"  Uzzano  made  answer  that  '  it  might  be  done  if  they  could 
draw  Giovanni  de'  Medici  into  their  designs  ;  for  if  he  concurred 
with  them,  the  multitude  being  deprived  of  their  head  would 
not  be  able  to  make  any  opposition.'  Rinaldo  was  deputed  to 
wait  upon  Giovanni,  and  persuade  him  to  join  them.  Giovanni 
replied  to  him  that  he  had  always  thought  it  the  duty  of  a  good 
citizen  to  endeavor  to  prevent  any  change  in  the  established 
laws.  By  such  changes  some  were  turned  out  and  others 
brought  in,  and  the  first  generally  thought  themselves  more 
aggrieved  than  the  others  benefited ;  by  which  few  friends  and 
many  enemies  were  made,  mankind  being  naturally  more  prone 
to  revenge  than  gratitude.  That  the  citizens  of  Florence  gene 
rally  dealt  basely  and  perfidiously  with  each  other ;  that  as  soon 
as  the  promoters  and  advisers  of  this  plan  had  sufficiently 
depressed  the  people  by  the  help  of  his  authority,  they  would 
certainly  fall  upon  him  next  with  the  whole  force  and  assistance 
of  the  plebeians,  whose  affections  he  must  have  lost  by  such  a 
conduct,  and  then  he  would  be  utterly  deserted  and  ruined.  He 
could  not  help  remembering  the  fate  of  Benedetto,  who,  at  the 
instigation  of  such  as  conspired  his  destruction,  consented  to  the 
severe  proceedings  against  Scali,  and  soon  after  was  sent  into 
exile  himself  by  the  very  persons  who  had  inveigled  him  into 
those  measures.  That  for  his  part  he  should  never  agree  to  have 
any  alterations  made  in  the  laws  or  constitution  of  his  country.' 

"  These  deliberations  when  known,  still  added  to  the  reputa 
tion  of  Giovanni,  and  increased  the  hatred  of  the  people  against 
the  other  citizens.  On  the  contrary,  Alamanno  de'  Medici,  his 
relation,  and  Cosimo,  his  son,  urged  Giovanni  to  take  this 
opportunity  of  humbling  his  enemies  and  exalting  his  friends, 
reproaching  him  with  his  coldness,  which  they  said  emboldened 
those  who  wished  him  ill  to  form  daily  conspiracies  against  him, 
and  would  one  time  or  other  prove  the  ruin  of  all  his  family 
and  dependents  ;  but  he  was  deaf  to  all  their  remonstrances  and 
prognostications,  and  determined  to  pursue  his  own  measures. 


FLORENCE.  73 

The  designs  of  the  faction  were,  however,  now  plainly  discovered, 
and  the  city  began  once  more  to  divide  itself  into  factions." 

Under  such  forms  of  government  there  can  never  be  an  inde 
pendent  judicial  power  ;  all  parties  are  either  courting,  or  threat 
ening,  or  persecuting  the  judges.1 

"  There  were  at  this  time  two  presiding  under  the  signori  in 
the  supreme  court  of  justice ;  Martino,  who  was  one  of  them, 
was  of  Uzzano's  party,  and  Paolo,  the  other,  followed  that  of  the 
Medici.  Rinaldo  finding  Giovanni  inflexible,  resolved  to  turn 
Paolo  out  of  his  office,  as  he  thought  that  the  court  would  then 
be  wholly  at  his  devotion  ;  but  the  other  side  being  aware  of 
this,  were  beforehand  with  him,  and  contrived  matters  so  well, 
that  they  got  Paolo  continued  and  Martino  discharged,  to  the 
great  mortification  and  prejudice  of  his  party. 

"  The  war  lasted  from  1422  to  1427,  and  the  citizens  were 
impoverished  by  taxes  ;  personal  estate  was  now  to  be  taxed  as 
well  as  real.  This  was  likely  to  fall  heavily  upon  the  rich,  upon 
which  account,  before  it  passed  into  a  law,2  it  was  vehemently 
opposed  by  them  all,  except  Giovanni,  who  publicly  expressed 
his  approbation  of  it,  so  that  it  was  carried  against  them.  This 
tax  was  regulated  by  a  law  made  on  purpose,  and  not  left  to 
the  arbitrament  of  partial  or  interested  persons  ;  so  that  the 
more  powerful  citizens  were  in  some  measure  restrained  from 
oppressing  the  inferior  sort  and  influencing  their  votes  in  the 
councils,  as  they  had  been  used  to  do,  by  the  threats  of  taxing 
them  according  as  they  gave  their  suffrages.  This  tax,  therefore, 
was  very  cheerfully  submitted  to  by  the  generality,  though 
highly  disgustful  to  the  rich.  But  as  it  is  the  nature  of 
mankind  to  be  ever  restless  and  discontented,  and  when  they 
have  gained  one  advantage  to  be  still  grasping  at  a  higher,  the 
people,  not  satisfied  with  this  equality  of  taxation  established 

1  In  the  last  chapter  but  one  of  Sismondi's  history  may  be  found  some  judi 
cious  reflections  upon  the  defects  of  the  judiciary  system  in  the  Italian  republics. 
Although  many  of  those  pointed  out  by  him  have  been  remedied  in  the  present 
age,  the  subject  is  not  yet  without  its  difficulties. 

2  As  this  tax  is  afterwards  alluded  to  by  name,  it  seems  proper  to  add  the 
definition  which  Machiavel  gives  of  it,  —  "  E  perch&  nel  distribuirla  s'aggrava- 
vano  i  beni  di  ciascuno,  il  che  i  Fiorentini  dicono  accatastare,  si  ehiamo  questa 
gravezza  Catasto." 

"And  because  in  apportioning  it  the  property  of  each  one  was  valued  to  the 
full,  which  the  Florentines  call  accatastare,  (anglice,  '  to  lump,')  this  imposition 
was  called  catasto." 

VOL.    V.  7 


74  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

by  the  law,  demanded  a  retrospect,  by  which  it  might  appear 
how  much  less  the  rich  citizens  had  paid  before,  than  they  ought 
to  have  done  by  this  regulation,  and  by  which  every  one  should 
be  made  to  account  for  deficiencies." 

This  question  occasioned  very  long  and  ingenious  arguments 
on  both  sides  ;  but  Giovanni  represented  to  the  people  the  bad 
consequences  of  retrospects,  and  with  many  arguments  soothed 
them,  till  they  dropped  this  demand. 

In  1428  peace  was  concluded,  and  fresh  commotions  began  in 
the  city  on  the  subject  of  the  new  plan  of  taxation.  "  In  this 
juncture  Giovanni  fell  sick,  and  calling  his  two  sons,  Cosimo 
and  Lorenzo,  to  his  bedside,  he  advised  them,  '  If  you  would  live 
with  safety  and  comfort,  be  content  with  such  a  share  in  the 
government  as  your  fellow-citizens  confer  upon  you,  by  which 
you  will  avoid  envy  and  danger ;  for  it  is  that  which  a  man 
arrogates  to  himself  that  makes  him  odious,  and  not  what  is 
voluntarily  given  him.'  He  died  lamented  by  the  whole  city, 
for  he  was  very  charitable  and  compassionate.  His  universal 
benevolence  taught  him  to  love  good  men  and  pity  the  evil.  He 
never  solicited  honors,  though  he  obtained  the  highest.  He  died 
possessed  of  immense  riches,*  and  full  of  glory  and  reputation, 
leaving  his  son  Cosimo  heir  to  his  fortune  and  fame  ;  both  which 
he  not  only  maintained,  but  augmented." 

Ambition  soon  kindled  new  wars.  "  The  whole  city  was 
divided  into  little  meetings  and  cabals  of  all  ranks  of  people,  the 
generality  of  whom  were  for  commencing  hostilities  against  the 
Lucchese.  Among  the  more  considerable  citizens  who  favored 
this  enterprise  were  all  the  followers  of  the  Medici  family  ;  those 
who  opposed  it  were  Uzzano  and  his  party.  It  seems  almost 
incredible  that  there  should  be  such  a  change  of  opinions  in  the 
same  citizens  on  this  occasion,  concerning  the  expediency  of  a 
war ;  and  yet  those  very  persons  who,  after  a  peace  that  had 
lasted  ten  years,  opposed  a  war  against  Duke  Philip  which  was 
undertaken  in  defence  of  their  own  liberties,  now  strenuously 
insisted  upon  one  against  Lucca,  to  invade  the  rights  of  others, 
and  at  a  time  too  when  the  city  was  to  the  last  degree  exhausted 
and  impoverished  by  the  heavy  expenses  of  the  last.  From 
hence  we  may  observe  how  much  more  ready  mankind  are  to 

*  Nerli,  p.  38. 


FLORENCE.  75 

usurp  the  property  of  others  than  to  defend  their  own,  and  how 
much  stronger  the  hope  of  gain  is  than  the  fear  of  loss.  The 
signori  assembled  the  common  council,  where  the  matter  was 
debated  by  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  republic  in  the 
presence  of  four  hundred  and  ninety-eight  citizens." 

The  debate  was  conducted  by  Rinaldo  on  one  side  and 
Uzzano  on  the  other ;  and,  upon  a  ballot,  only  ninety-eight  were 
against  the  war.  The  war  was  commenced  and  carried  on  with 
all  that  rapacious  avarice  and  ambition  which  had  begun  it ; 
and  grievous  complaints  and  accusations  were  brought  against 
Astorre  and  Rinaldo  for  their  behavior  in  it. 

In  1428,*  Niccolo  da  Uzzano  died,  and  Rinaldo  succeeded  as 
head  of  his  family  and  party.  Rinaldo  returned  in  a  rage" 
against  the  magistrates,  and  presenting  himself  before  the  coun 
cil  of  war,  he  told  them  "  he  well  knew  how  difficult  and  dan 
gerous  a  thing  it  was  to  serve  an  unbridled  people  and  a  divided 
state  ;  since  the  one  was  carried  away  with  every  rumor,  the 
other  put  a  malicious  interpretation  upon  actions  that  were 
doubtful,  and  always  punished  the  evil,  but  never  rewarded  the 
good ;  so  that  if  a  commander  succeeded  in  an  expedition,  he 
had  no  praise  at  all ;  if  he  was  guilty  of  an  error,  his  conduct 
was  censured  by  the  generality ;  but  if  he  miscarried,  he  was 
sure  to  be  condemned  by  every  one  ;  for  in  the  one  case  his  own 
party  would  envy  his  success,  and  in  the  other  his  adversaries 
would  not  fail  to  insult  him."  The  council  endeavored  to 
appease  his  resentment,  but  gave  the  command  abroad  to  others. 
The  war  was  conducted  afterwards  rather  unsuccessfully,  until 
they  came  to  a  battle  before  the  town  of  Lucca,  and  were  totally 
defeated. 

"  As  the  expedition  had  been  undertaken  almost  by  general 
consent,  the  people,  in  the  utmost  consternation,  and  not  know 
ing  where  else  to  turn  their  rage,  began  to  abuse  those  who  had 
conducted  the  war,  since  they  could  not  blarne  those  who,  by 
their  own  instigation,  had  first  advised  it,  and  they  revived  their 
old  calumnies  against  Rinaldo  ;  but  the  person  whom  they  fell 
upon  with  the  greatest  violence  was  Guicciardini,  who  they 
said  might  easily  have  put  an  end  to  the  war  if  he  had  not  been 
bribed ;  nay,  they  went  so  far  as  to  charge  him  with  sending  a 

*  Nerli,  p.  39. 


76  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

horseload  of  money  to  his  own  house,  and  particularly  men 
tioned  the  names  both  of  those  that  carried  and  those  that 
received  it.  These  clamors  and  accusations  made  such  a  noise, 
that  the  captain  of  the  people  could  not  help  taking  cognizance 
of  so  public  a  charge ;  especially  as  he  was  importunately 
called  upon  so  to  do  by  Giovanni's  enemies.  Having  cited  him 
therefore  to  clear  himself  of  this  imputation,  he  made  his  appear 
ance,  but  with  much  seeming  indignation  and  contempt  of  their 
malice  ;  and  his  relations  exerted  themselves  so  strenuously  for 
the  honor  of  their  family,  that  the  captain  was  obliged  to  stop 
all  further  proceedings  against  him." 

The  insinuation  here  is  very  obvious  that  the  judge  was 
bribed. 

"  In  1433  a  general  peace  was  concluded,  whereby  all  towns 
that  had  been  taken  by  the  Florentines,  Lucchese  and  Sienese, 
were  mutually  restored  to  their  former  possessors ;  so  that  the 
expense  of  this  war  was  all  lost.  During  the  course  of  it  the 
factious  humors  began  to  ferment  again  at  home ;  and  Cosimo 
began  to  act  with  greater  spirit  in  public  affairs,  and  with  more 
openness  and  zeal  for  the  good  of  his  friends,  than  ever  his 
father  had  done  ;  so  that  those  who  rejoiced  at  the  death  of 
Giovanni  were  not  a  little  damped  at  the  proceedings  of  his  son, 
Cosimo  was  a  man  of  very  great  prudence,  of  a  sedate  and 
agreeable  countenance,  exceedingly  liberal  and  humane,  never 
entering  into  any  measures  that  would  be  pernicious  to  the 
state,  or  even  the  party  that  he  opposed,  but  taking  all  opportu 
nities  of  doing  good  to  every  one,  and  of  conciliating  to  himself 
the  affections  of  his  fellow-citizens  by  his  goodness  and  gene 
rosity.  So  noble  an  example  of  benevolence  greatly  increased 
the  hatred  which  the  public  had  already  conceived  against  the 
governing  party,  and  at  the  same  time  was  the  best  method  he 
thought  he  could  take  to  enable  himself  either  to  live  with  repu 
tation  and  security  in  Florence,  or,  by  the  interest  he  had  with 
the  people,  and  even  if  necessary  by  force  of  arms,  to  get  the 
better  of  any  persecution  that  the  malice  of  his  enemies  might 
raise  against  him.  There  were  two  citizens  who  contributed  to 
promote  this  interest,  Averardo  de'  Medici  and  Puccio  Pucci; 
the  one  by  his  boldness  and  activity,  the  other  by  his  great  wis 
dom  and  experience,  which  added  much  reputation  to  his  party ; 
indeed,  the  judgment  and  authority  of  the  latter  were  so  gene- 


FLORENCE.  77 

rally  revered,  that  he  gave  a  name  to  the  party,  which  was  not 
called  Cosimo's,  but  Puccio's  party. 

"  In  this  divided  state  of  the  city,  the  expedition  against  Lucca 
was  undertaken,  which,  instead  of  extinguishing  the  rage  of  fac 
tion,  still  added  fuel  to  it ;  for,  though  Puccio's  party  had  pro 
moted  and  advised  a  war,  yet  those  of  the  other  side  were  chiefly 
employed  in  conducting  it,  as  they  had  greater  power  in  the 
government;  and  since  Averardo  and  his  friends  could  not  by 
any  means  prevent  this,  they  took  every  opportunity  of  defaming 
them,  and  calumniating  their  actions;  so  that  when  they  met 
with  any  misfortune,  it  was  not  imputed  to  the  superior  strength 
or  better  management  of  the  enemy,  but  to  the  misconduct  and 
imprudence  of  the  commissary.  This  was  the  occasion  why  the 
enormities  committed  by  Astorre  Gianni,  though  of  themselves 
very  great  indeed,  were  still  exaggerated.  It  was  this  sort  of 
treatment  that  provoked  Rinaldo  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  left 
his  command  without  permission.  This  was  the  true  cause  of 
Giovanni  Guicciardini  being  cited  to  appear  before  the  captain 
ot  the  people.  From  hence  proceeded  all  the  charges  and  com 
plaints  that  were  exhibited  against  other  magistrates  and  com 
missaries  ;  and  whilst  those  that  had  any  foundation  were  always 
aggravated,  and  sometimes  supported  by  downright  falsehood, 
the  people,  out  of  the  hatred  they  bore  to  them,  greedily  swal 
lowed  all,  whether  true  or  false. 

"Uzzano,  and  the  other  heads  of  that  party,  perfectly  well 
aware  of  these  base  artifices,  had  had  several  private  meet 
ings  to  consider  of  proper  means  to  prevent  the  effect  of  them ; 
yet  they  could  not  fix  upon  any  expedient.  It  was  very  danger 
ous,  they  knew,  to  connive  at  them,  and  not  less  to  proceed  to 
open  violence ;  Uzzano  himself  was  averse  to  any  remedies  of 
that  kind.  Barbadori,  seeing  they  were  harassed  in  this  manner, 
with  war  abroad  and  faction  at  home,  made  a  visit  to  Uzzano, 
whom  he  found  alone  and  very  thoughtful  in  his  study;  and  as 
he  himself  wished  to  see  the  ruin  of  Cosimo,  he  left  no  method 
untried  to  prevail  upon  Uzzano  to  join  with  Rinaldo  to  drive  him 
out  of  the  city.  Uzzano  replied,  — 

" '  Common  prudence  would  be  sufficient  to  induce  those  who 

advise  the  expulsion  of  Cosimo  to  compare  their  own  strength 

with  his.     Our  party,  it  seems,  is  now  distinguished  by  the  name 

of  the  Nobility,  and  the  other  by  that  of  the  Plebeians.     Remem- 

7* 


78  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

ber  the  fate  of  the  ancient  nobility  of  this  city,  who  at  last  were 
utterly  suppressed  in  their  contests  with  the  plebeians.  Our 
party  is  divided,  while  that  of  our  adversaries  is  compact  and 
entire.  Neri  and  Nerone,  two  of  the  chief  men  in  the  city,  have 
not  yet  declared  themselves;  and  it  is  uncertain  what  side  they 
will  take.  Several  families  are  divided  among  themselves ;  and 
many  there  are  that  hate  us,  and  favor  our  adversaries,  merely 
out  of  envy  or  malice  to  their  own  brothers,  or  some  other  near 
relations.  Among  the  sons  of  Maso,  Luca,  out  of  hatred  to 
Rinaldo,  is  gone  over  to  the  other  side ;  in  the  family  of  the 
Guicciardini,  Pietro,  the  son  of  Luigi,  is  a  mortal  enemy  to  his 
brother  Giovanni,  and  joins  our  adversaries ;  Tomaso  and  Nic- 
colo  Soderini  openly  oppose  us,  out  of  pique  to  their  uncle  Fran 
cisco  ;  so  that  if  we  consider  the  quality  of  those  who  constitute 
their  party,  and  of  whom  our  own  consists,  I  see  no  reason  why 
one  should  be  called  the  nobility  in  preference  to  the  other.  If 
it  is  because  they  are  followed  by  the  whole  body  of  the  plebeians, 
that  very  circumstance  makes  them  so  much  superior  to  us,  that 
if  ever  we  come  to  an  open  trial  of  our  strength,  we  shall  not  be 
able  to  stand  before  them ;  and  if  we  still  continue  in  possession 
of  the  first  places  in  the  commonwealth,  it  is  entirely  owing  to 
the  established  credit  of  an  administration  which  has  now  sup 
ported  itself  for  the  space  of  fifty  years.  But  if  things  should 
come  to  extremities,  and  our  present  weakness  be  discovered, 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  we  should  be  forced  out  of  the  magis 
tracy,  perhaps  to  our  utter  destruction.  Cosimo,  it  is  true,  freely 
lends  money  to  every  one  that  wants  it;  not  only  to  private 
people,  but  to  the  public,  upon  any  emergency,  and  to  foreigners 
as  well  as  Florentines.  He  is  a  friend  to  such  as  stand  in  need 
of  protection,  and  sometimes  helps  to  advance  an  acquaintance 
to  a  reputable  employment  in  the  commonwealth,  by  the  interest 
which  his  universal  benevolence  has  gained  him  among  the  peo 
ple.  What  shall  we  be  able  to  plead  in  excuse  for  endeavoring 
to  expel  him  the  city?  Shall  we  accuse  him  of  being  charitable, 
friendly,  liberal,  and  beloved  by  every  one  ?  What  law  condemns 
charity,  liberality,  and  beneficence  ?  Indeed,  these  virtues  are 
sometimes  counterfeited,  to  cajole  the  vulgar,  by  such  as  aspire 
to  dominion ;  but  they  do  not  appear  in  that  light  at  present,  nor 
is  it  in  our  power  to  make  them.  We  have  lost  our  reputation 
by  our  late  misconduct ;  and  a  people  naturally  prone  to  faction, 


FLORENCE.  79 

and  corrupted  by  continual  divisions,  will  no  longer  put  any  con 
fidence  in  us,  or  give  credit  to  such  accusations.  If  he  is  banished, 
he  will  return  with  more  friends,  and  we  shall  have  more  enemies. 
If  it  is  intended  to  put  him  to  death  in  a  judicial  manner,  that 
can  never  be  effected ;  for,  as  he  is  rich,  and  the  magistracy  cor 
rupt,  he  will  be  sure  to  escape  all  punishment.  But  if  he  is 
banished  or  condemned,  what  will  the  commonwealth  gain  by 
that  ?  No  sooner  will  it  be  free  from  the  apprehensions  it  was 
under  from  Cosimo,  but  it  will  be  liable  to  the  same  from  Rinaldo. 
For  my  own  part,  I  am  one  of  those  who  never  desire  to  see  one 
citizen  exceed  another  in  authority ;  and  if  one  of  these  two  must 
seize  the  reins,  I  know  not  any  reason  that  should  induce  me  to 
prefer  Rinaldo  to  Cosimo.  I  pray  God  to  preserve  this  city  from 
ever  falling  under  the  dominion  of  any  one  man ;  but  if  a  time 
should  ever  come,  when  our  sins  shall  bring  that  judgment  upon 
us,  I  pray  still  more  earnestly,  that  we  may  not  become  subject 
to  Rinaldo.  The  far  greater  part  of  the  citizens,  some  out  of  stu 
pidity,  and  others  out  of  malice,  are  thoroughly  disposed  to  sell 
their  country;  and  fortune  has  been  so  favorable  to  them  as  to 
provide  a  purchaser.  Live  quietly,  then ;  and  as  to  any  invasion 
of  our  liberties,  be  assured,  you  have  as  much  to  apprehend  from 
our  own  party  as  the  other.' " 

This  speech  contains  a  volume  of  instruction.  The  situ 
ation  of  such  a  government,  where  there  are  two  parties, 
and  no  third  power  to  balance  them,  is  admirably  described. 
Neri,  and  Nerone,  who  were  yet  neuters,  are  looked  up  to 
as  capable,  when  they  please,  of  overturning  the  balance,  and 
effecting  a  revolution.  Family  quarrels  are  resorted  to  and  in 
flamed,  in  order  to  make  different  branches  take  different  sides. 
Though  one  party  is  called  patrician,  and  the  other  plebeian,  so 
many  individuals  of  each  desert  their  colors  and  go  over  to  the 
enemy,  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  which  party  is  really  the  patri 
cian,  and  which  the  plebeian.  Timid  and  irresolute  to  the  last 
degree,  the  government  dares  not  disoblige  an  individual,  even 
by  punishing  a  crime ;  the  government  really  esteeming  its  ene 
mies  more  than  its  own  members;  and  opposition  approving 
members  of  government  more  than  their  own  associates ;  all 
parties  endeavoring  to  get  an  influence  over  the  judges,  as 
essential  to  their  existence ;  the  judicial  power  unavoidably 
corrupted,  —  it  was  easy  for  Uzzano  to  say,  and  perhaps  sincerely, 


80  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

that  he  never  desired  to  see  one  citizen  exceed  another  in  influ 
ence.  But,  according  to  Machiavel,  the  existence  of  the  govern 
ment  had  long  depended  upon  the  superior  authority  of  Uzzano 
himself.  And  no  better  plan  of  liberty  than  this  deplorable  one 
of  Florence  can  ever  be  preserved,  without  some  one  citizen 
legally  vested  with  authority  to  control  each  in  turn  of  the  con 
tending  parties. 

"  Uzzano  died  in  1428,*  and  all  restraint  was  at  an  end. 
Rinaldo  now  was  head  of  the  party,  and  was  continually  teaz- 
ing  and  importuning  such  citizens  as  he  thought  likely  to  be 
judges,  that  is,  standard-bearers  of  justice,  to  take  arms,  and 
deliver  their  country  out  of  the  hands  of  Cosimo  ;  who,  taking 
advantage  of  the  stupidity  of  some,  and  the  malice  of  others, 
would  certainly  enslave  it.  Thus  Rinaldo,  by  endeavoring  to 
supplant  his  adversaries,  and  they  to  support  themselves,  kept 
the  whole  city  in  continual  alarm  and  suspicion  ;  so  that  when 
new  magistrates  were  appointed,  it  was  presently  known  how 
many  there  were  on  one  side,  and  how  many  on  the  other ;  and 
at  the  imborsations  for  the  signori,  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  tumult  and  uproar.  Every  trifling  affair  that  was  brought 
before  the  magistracy  created  a  division;  all  secrets  were  di 
vulged  ;  they  had  no  regard  to  justice  ;  the  good  and  the  evil 
were  treated  alike  ;  and  there  was  not  so  much  as  one  magis 
trate  that  did  his  duty. 

"  Rinaldo,  impatient  to  lower  the  authority  of  Cosimo,  in 
trigued  to  get  Bernardo  Guadagni  drawn  for  standard-bearer,* 
and  succeeded.  He  went  to  congratulate  him,  and  told  him 
how  much  the  nobility  were  rejoiced  to  see  him  in  possession 
of  that  dignity ;  represented  to  him  the  danger  they  were  in 
from  their  divisions  ;  and  that  the  surest  way  to  restore  union 
among  them  was  to  rid  themselves  of  Cosimo.  Bernardo 
answered,  he  was  fully  convinced  of  the  expediency  and  neces-. 
sity  of  what  he  had  urged,  and  desired  him  to  prepare  their 
friends  to  take  arms. 

"  Bernardo  then  summoned  Cosimo  to  appear  before  the 
signori.  The  signori  assembled  the  people,  and  appointed  a 
balia,  consisting  of  two  hundred  citizens,  to  reform  the  state ; 
and  the  first  thing  debated  was,  whether  Cosimo  should  be  put 

*  Nerli,  p.  39. 


FLORENCE.  81 

to  death  or  not.  Some  argued  for  it,  others  thought  banishment 
sufficient,  and  many  sat  silent. 

"  Cosimo  was  committed  prisoner  to  Federigo  Malavolti,  in  the 
turret  of  the  palace.  From  this  place,  he  could  hear  the  clamors 
of  the  armed  men,  who  were  below  in  the  piazza,  and  frequent 
outcries  for  a  balia ;  which  made  him  apprehend  that  his  life  was 
in  danger,  but  much  more,  that  his  particular  enemies  would  take 
some  extravagant  method  to  despatch  him  ;  for  that  reason,  he 
would  eat  no  meat  for  the  space  of  four  days,  except  a  mouthful 
or  two  of  bread.  Federigo,  observing  this,  bid  him  take  cou 
rage,  and  eat  his  meat,  and  keep  himself  alive  for  the  good  of 
his  friends  and  his  country ;  '  and  that  you  may  have  no  more 
suspicion,'  says  he, '  I  will  eat  with  you.'  Cosimo  embraced  him 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  acknowledging  his  generosity,  and 
assuring  him  he  would  amply  recompense  his  kindness,  if  ever 
fortune  should  put  it  in  his  power  to  show  his  gratitude. 

"  Federigo  invited  Farganaccio,  a  friend  of  the  standard- 
bearer,  to  sup  with  him.  Cosimo,  after  many  fair  words  and 
promises,  gave  his  guest  a  draught  upon  his  banker  for  eleven 
hundred  ducats,  desiring  him  to  keep  one  hundred  himself,  and 
present  the  other  thousand  to  the  standard-bearer.  This  he 
willingly  undertook  to  perform,  and  gave  the  money  to  Bernardo, 
who  then  began  to  grow  cooler  and  more  moderate  in  the  prose 
cution  ;  so  that,  after  all,  Cosimo  was  only  banished  to  Padua, 
though  Rinaldo  used  his  utmost  endeavors  to  have  him  put  to 
death.  Averardo  de'  Medici,  and  many  others  of  that  family, 
were  likewise  banished  at  the  same  time,  and  with  them,  Puccio 
and  Giovanni  Pucci. 

"  Cosimo  was  brought  before  the  signori,  3  October,  1433, 
who  pronounced  the  sentence  of  banishment  upon  him.  He 
received  the  sentence  with  a  cheerful  countenance,  saying,  '  that 
in  what  part  of  the  world  soever  he  should  sojourn,  his  person 
and  fortune  should  ever  be  at  the  service  of  the  republic,  the 
people,  and  the  signori.'  The  standard-bearer  told  him,  he 
would  take  care  that  his  life  should  be  in  no  danger  ;  and  having 
conducted  him  to  his  own  house  to  sup  with  him,  ordered  a 
party  of  the  guards  to  escort  him  to  the  confines  of  the  Flo 
rentine  dominions. 

"  Wherever  he  came,  he  was  received  with  great  honor,  and 
publicly  visited  by  the  Venetians,  who  treated  him  not  as  an 
F 


$2  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

exile,  but  as  a  person  of  the  first  rank  and  consequence  in  the 
state.  Florence,  being  thus  deprived  of  so  great  a  man,  and  so 
universally  beloved,*  Rinaldo  saw  a  storm  arising,  and  advised 
his  friends  to  collect  their  strength,  and  fortify  themselves  ;  that 
so,  when  their  enemies  should  rise  upon  them,  which  was  daily 
to  be  expected,  they  might  be  able  to  clear  the  city  of  them  "by 
dint  of  force,  since,  it  seemed,  they  could  not  do  it  in  a  judi 
cial  manner ;  that  they  must  regain  the  affections  of  the  grandees, 
by  restoring  them  to  their  honors  and  authority.  He  was  an 
swered,  that  the  insolence  and  tyranny  of  the  grandees  always 
had  been,  and  always  would  be,  insupportable  ;  and  that  it 
would  be  madness  to  run  headlong  into  a  certain  and  slavish 
subjection  to  them,  when  the  danger  that  was  apprehended  from 
the  plebeians  might  only  be  imaginary.  Rinaldo,  seeing  his 
advice  rejected,  could  not  help  lamenting  the  misfortunes  that  he 
foresaw  were  going  to  fall  upon  himself  and  his  party ;  but 
he  modestly  imputed  them  rather  to  the  malevolence  of  their 
destiny,  than  to  the  blindness  and  perverseness  of  men." 

But  both  Rinaldo  and  Machiavel  would  have  been  much 
better  advised,  if  they  had  imputed  all  these  evils  to  their  true 
cause,  an  imperfect  and  unbalanced  constitution  of  government, 
rather  than  to  destiny  or  the  perverseness  of  men.  In  such  a 
form  of  government,  destiny  itself,  without  a  miracle,  cannot 
prevent  the  blindness  and  perverseness  of  men.  Those  who  see 
the  clearest  are  forced  to  shut  their  eyes,  and  those  who  are  most 
upright  are  compelled  to  be  perverse. 

"  Letters  were  soon  intercepted  from  Agnolo  to  Cosimo,  advis 
ing  him  to  stir  up  a  war  from  some  quarter  or  another,  and  to 
make  Neri  his  friend ;  as  he  thought  then  the  people  would  be  in 
want  of  money  to  carry  it  on.  Agnolo  was  banished,  which  did 
not,  however,  restrain  the  ardor  of  those  who  favored  Cosimo.  It 
was  now  almost  a  year  since  Cosimo  had  been  banished.  At 
the  end  of  August,  Niccolo  di  Cocco  was  drawn  standard-bearer 
for  the  two  next  months,  and  with  him  eight  new  signors,  all 
Cosimo's  friends,  at  which  Rinaldo  and  his  party  were  alarmed. 
Rinaldo  was  for  taking  arms,  and  obliging  the  standard-bearer 

*  Partissi  Cosimo  di  Firenze  1'  Ottobre,  1433,  avendo  lasciato  di  se  nell  uni- 
versale  de'  meno  potent!  cittadini  grandissimo  desiderio,  parendo  loro  esser  rimesi 
in  preda  di  pochi  potenti,  senza  speranza  di  capo  alcuno  al  quale  si  potessero 
appoggiare.  Nerli,  p.  40. 


FLORENCE.  83 

to  assemble  the  people  in  the  piazza  to  appoint  another  balia 
and  depose  the  new  signori ;  he  would  get  others  drawn,  more 
fit  for  their  purpose,  by  burning  the  old  imborsation,  and  making 
a  fresh  one,  in  which  the  purses  might  be  filled  only  with  the 
names  of  their  friends.  Strozzi,  a  man  of  a  peaceable  and 
humane  disposition,  and  given  to  study  rather  than  to  faction, 
opposed  it;  and  it  was  resolved  to  let  the  new  signori  enter 
peaceably  upon  the  magistracy. 

"  Having  been  created  by  Cosimo's  party,  they  no  sooner  took 
possession  of  the  palace,  than  the  standard-bearer  began  his 
office  by  an  action  which  was  to  give  him  reputation,  and  strike 
a  damp  into  such  as  might  think  of  opposing  him.  He  imme 
diately  committed  his  predecessor  to  prison,  upon  pretence  that 
he  had  embezzled  the  public  money;  after  which  he  began  to 
sound  his  associates  about  Cosimo's  return.  Finding  them  well 
disposed  to  it,  he  communicated  their  design  to  those  who  were 
reputed  heads  of  the  Medici  party,  who  all  encouraged  him  to 
attempt  it.  He  then  cited  Rinaldo  and  others,  the  principals  of 
the  other  party,  to  appear  before  him,  who,  instead  of  obeying 
him,  flew  to  arms.  But  their  party  was  irresolute,  lost  its 
opportunity,  and  gave  time  to  the  signori  to  provide  for  their 
defence.  The  signori  sent  to  acquaint  Rinaldo,  and  those  who 
were  with  him, '  that  they  could  not  conceive  what  was  the  cause 
of  such  a  commotion ;  that  if  it  was  upon  Cosimo's  account, 
they  could  assure  them  they  had  no  thought  of  recalling  him.' 
These  promises,  however,  made  but  little  impression  on  Rinaldo, 
who  said  he  would  take  care  of  himself,  by  turning  them  all  out 
of  their  offices. 

"But  it  seldom  happens  that  any  design  succeeds,  where  the 
authority  of  the  conductors  is  equal,  and  their  opinions  different. 
Ridolfo  replied,  '  That  for  his  part,  he  desired  nothing  more 
than  that  Cosimo  might  not  be  suffered  to  return.'  So  that,  all 
hope  of  success  being  defeated  by  the  delay  of  Rinaldo,  the  pusil 
lanimity  of  Strozzi,  and  the  desertion  of  Ridolfo  Peruzzi,  the 
rest  of  the  party  began  to  lose  their  spirits  and  grow  cool.  Pope 
Eugenius  IV.,  driven  out  of  Rome  by  the  people,  was  then  at 
Florence,  and  interposed  his  mediation  till  he  persuaded  the 
party  to  lay  down  their  arms.  As  soon  as  the  signori  saw  their 
adversaries  disarmed,  they  began  to  treat  with  them,  through  the 
mediation  of  the  pope ;  at  the  same  time,  they  sent  privately  into 


84  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

the  mountains  of  Pistoia  for  a  body  of  foot-soldiers,  which,  being 
joined  by  all  the  horse  they  had  in  the  adjacent  territories,  were 
brought  into  Florence  by  night.  Having  taken  possession  of  all 
the  passes  and  strong  places  in  the  city,  they  called  the  people 
together  in  the  piazza  before  the  palace,  and  appointed  a  new 
balia.  which,  at  their  first  meeting,  recalled  Cosimo,  and  all  the 
other  citizens  who  had  been  banished  with  him.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  not  only  sent  Rinaldo,  Peruzzi,  Barbadori,  and  Strozzi 
into  banishment,  but  such  numbers  of  others,  that  most  parts  of 
Italy,  and  some  other  countries,  were  crowded  with  them,  to  the 
great  impoverishment  of  Florence,  both  in  regard  to  its  wealth, 
its  inhabitants,  its  trade,  and  manufactures. 

"  But  the  pope,  seeing  that  party  which,  upon  his  assurances 
and  intercession,  had  consented  to  lay  down  their  arms,  entirely 
ruined  and  dissipated,  was  exceedingly  enraged,  as  well  as  Hi- 
naldo.  The  latter,  however,  affected  to  say,  it  would  give  him 
no  great  regret  to  be  banished  a  city  where  private  men  had 
more  authority  than  the  laws. 

"Cosimo,  having  notice,  immediately  repaired  to  Florence.  It 
has  seldom  happened  that  any  commander,  though  returning  in 
triumph  from  victory,  has  been  received  with  such  acclamations 
and  universal  joy  as  Cosimo  was  by  his  fellow-citizens,  who  ran 
in  multitudes  to  meet  him,  and  saluted  him,  with  one  voice,  the 
benefactor  of  the  people  and  the  father  of  his  country."  * 

Machiavel  begins  his  fifth  book  as  if  he  supposed  his  reader 
convinced  that  the  commonwealth  of  Florence  had  expired,  and 
an  absolute  sovereignty  in  Cosimo  had  commenced,  by  grave 
reflections  upon  the  changes  that  are  incident  to  all  governments: 

"  They  often  degenerate  into  anarchy  and  confusion,  and  from 
thence  emerge  again  to  good  order  and  regularity.  For,  since  it 
is  ordained  by  Providence  that  there  should  be  a  continual  ebb 
and  flow  in  the  things  of  this  world,  as  soon  as  they  arrive  at 
their  utmost  perfection,  and  can  ascend  no  higher,  they  must  of 
necessity  decline  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  when  they  have  fallen, 

*  "  Eitornb  adunque  Cosimo  in  Firenze,  con  tanta  reputazione  e  con  si  granda 
allegrezza  dall'  esilio,  con  quanta,  mai  ritornasse  alia  patria  sua  alcun  altro  citta- 
dino  trionfante,  da  qual  si  voglia  o  possa  immao-inare  felicissima  impresa  vitto- 
rioso ;  e  benche  egli  si  sforzasse  in  tanta  sua  felicita,  e  grandezza  di  maiitenere 
sempre  quella  civile  modestia,  la  quale  osservo  in  ogni  sua  azione  mentreche 
visse,  ad  ogni  modo  appariva  in  lui  una  tal  maesta  di  principe,  che  meritd  per 
pubblico  decreto  d'  esser  chiamato  padre  della  patria,  la  quale  da  esso  fu  per 
trenta  anni,  pacificameute  governata."  Nerli,  p.  43. 


FLORENCE.  85 

through  any  disorder,  to  the  lowest  degree  that  is  possible,  and 
can  sink  no  lower,  they  begin  to  rise  again.  And  thus  there  is 
a  constant  succession  of  prosperity  and  adversity  in  all  human 
affairs.  Virtue  is  the  mother  of  peace ;  peace  produces  idleness ; 
idleness,  contention  and  misrule ;  and  from  thence  proceed  ruin 
and  confusion.  This  occasions  reformation  and  better  laws ; 
good  laws  make  men  virtuous ;  and  public  virtue  is  always 
attended  with  glory  and  success. 

"At  the  return  of  Cosimo,  those  citizens  who  had  been  his 
chief  friends,  and  some  others,  who  had  been  injured  and  op 
pressed  by  the  late  administration,  were  determined  at  all  events 
to  take  the  government  of  the  state  into  their  own  hands.  The 
signori,  therefore,  who  were  drawn  for  the  two  ensuing  months 
of  November  and  December,  not  content  with  what  their  prede 
cessors  had  already  done  in  favor  of  their  party,  prolonged  the 
term,  changed  the  residence  of  several  who  had  been  banished, 
and  sent  numbers  of  others  into  exile.  And  this  was  done  not 
only  out  of  party  rage,  but  likewise  on  account  of  their  riches, 
alliances,  and  private  connections ;  so  that  this  proscription, 
except  in  the  article  of  bloodshed,  might  in  some  measure  be 
compared  to  that  under  Sylla  and  Octavius.  There  were,  how 
ever,  some  executions ;  for  Antonio,  the  son  of  Bernardo,  was 
beheaded ;  and  four  other  citizens,  having  left  the  place  to  which 
they  had  been  banished,  and  gone  to  reside  at  Venice,  were  se 
cured  by  the  Venetians,  who  set  a  greater  value  upon  Cosimo's 
friendship  than  their  own  reputation,  and  sent  prisoners  to  Flo 
rence,  where  they  were  put  to  death  in  an  ignominious  manner. 

"  These  examples  greatly  increased  the  strength  of  Cosimo's 
party,  and  struck  a  terror  into  that  of  his  enemies.  When  they 
had  thus  cleared  the  city  of  their  enemies,  and  such  as  they 
thought  disaffected  to  their  government,  they  began  to  strengthen 
their  hands  by  caressing  and  heaping  favors  upon  others.  For 
this  purpose  they  recalled  the  family  of  the  Alberti,  and  all  the 
rest  of  the  exiles  that  had  been  formerly  banished ;  they  reduced 
the  grandees,  except  some  very  few,  to  the  rank  of  commoners, 
and  divided  among  themselves  the  possessions  o**  those  whom 
they  had  banished.  After  this  they  fortified  themselves  with  new 
laws  and  ordinances,  and  made  a  fresh  imborsation,  taking  the 
names  of  all  suspected  persons  out  of  the  purses,  and  filling 
them  up  with  those  of  their  own  friends.  They  likewise  took 

VOL.  v.  8 


86  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

care  that  such  magistrates  as  had  the  power  of  life  and  death 
entrusted  to  them  should  always  be  chosen  out  of  the  most  emi 
nent  of  their  party;  for  which  purpose  they  ordained  that  the 
syndics,  who  inspected  the  imborsations  in  conjunction  with  the 
old  signori,  should  have  the  power  of  appointing  the  new.  They 
left  the  cognizance  of  capital  offences  to  the  eight  wardens,  and 
enacted  that  no  exile  should  return,  even  after  the  term  of  his 
banishment  was  expired,  till  he  had  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
signori  and  thirty-four  of  the  colleges,  though  the  whole  number 
of  them  amounted  to  no  more  than  thirty-seven.  All  persons 
were  prohibited  to  write  or  receive  any  letters  from  them ;  every 
word,  or  sign,  or  gesture,  that  displeased  the  governors,  was 
punished  with  the  utmost  severity.  And  if  there  was  any  sus 
pected  person  left  in  Florence,  who  had  not  fallen  under  their 
lash  for  such  offences,  they  took  care  to  load  him  severely  with 
new  taxes  and  impositions ;  so  that,  one  part  of  their  adversaries 
being  driven  out  of  the  city,  and  the  other  depressed  and  over 
awed  by  these  means,  they  in  a  short  time  secured  the  govern 
ment  to  themselves;  and  to  support  their  power  with  foreign  aid, 
and  deprive  their  enemies  of  all  assistance,  if  they  should  offer  to 
disturb  them,  they  entered  into  a  defensive  league  with  the  pope, 
the  Venetians,  and  the  Duke  of  Milan." 

Cosimo  is  very  tenderly  treated  by  Machiavel;  yet  he  has 
impartiality  enough  to  record  the  tragical  story  of  Neri  and  Bal- 
daccio. 

"Among1  those  who  had  the  chief  authority  in  the  government, 
Neri  was  one,  of  whose  reputation  Cosimo  was  more  jealous 
than  of  that  of  any  other  person ;  as  he  had  not  only  very  great 
credit  in  the  city,  but  was  exceedingly  beloved  by  the  soldiery, 
whose  affections  he  had  gained  by  his  bravery,  humanity,  and 
good  conduct,  when  he  commanded  the  troops  of  the  republic, 
as  he  had  done  upon  several  occasions;  besides  which,  the  re 
membrance  of  the  victories  that  had  been  gained  by  him  and  his 
father,  one  of  whom  had  taken  Pisa,  and  the  other  defeated  Pic- 
cinino  at  the  battle  of  Anghiari,  made  him  respected  by  many 
and  feared  by  others,  who  did  not  desire  any  more  associates  in 
the  government. 

"  But  of  all  their  generals,  Baldaccio  d'  Anghiari  was  certainly 

1  Lib.  vi. 


FLORENCE.  87 

the  most  eminent ;  nor  was  there  any  man  at  that  time  in  Italy, 
who  surpassed  him  either  in  courage,  or  military  skill,  or  bodily 
accomplishments ;  and  having  always  commanded  the  infantry, 
they  had  such  an  opinion  of  him,  that  it  was  generally  believed 
he  could  influence  them  to  execute  any  purpose,  and  that  they 
would  follow  him  in  any  undertaking  whatsoever.  This  Bal- 
daccio  was  very  intimate  with  Neri,  for  whom  he  had  the  highest 
esteem,  on  account  of  his  valor  and  other  good  qualities,  of  which 
he  had  long  been  a  witness;  but  it  was  a  connection  that  excited 
infinite  jealousy  among  the  rest  of  the  principal  citizens,  who, 
thinking  it  dangerous  to  let  him  enjoy  his  liberty,  and  still  more 
so  to  imprison  him,  resolved  to  have  him  despatched ;  in  which 
fortune  seemed  to  second  their  design." 

It  is  very  provoking  to  read  these  continual  imputations  to 
fortune,  made  by  Machiavel,  of  events  which  he  knew  very  well 
were  the  effects  of  secret  intrigue ;  for  there  is  no  doubt  it  had 
been  previously  concerted  to  get  Bartolomeo  Orlandini  appointed 
standard-bearer  of  justice,  who,  having  been  sent  to  defend  the 
pass  of  Marradi,  when  Piccinino  invaded  Tuscany,  had  shame 
fully  deserted  it,  and  abandoned  all  that  country,  from  the  nature 
of  its  situation  of  itself  almost  inaccessible,  to  the  fury  of  the 
enemy.  So  flagrant  a  piece  of  cowardice  provoked  Baldaccio  to 
such  a  degree,  that  he  could  not  help  expressing  his  contempt  of 
him,  both  in  public  conversation  and  in  letters  which  he  wrote 
to  his  friends,  in  terms  that  not  only  excited  Orlandini' s  resent 
ment,  but  made  him  thirst  for  revenge,  and  flatter  himself  that 
he  should  extinguish  the  infamy  of  the  fact  by  the  death  of  his 
accuser.  To  this  resolution  some  other  citizens  (the  Medici) 
were  privy ;  who  encouraged  him  in  it,  and  said,  that  by  so  doing 
he  would  sufficiently  revenge  the  injuries  which  he  had  suffered 
himself,  and  at  the  same  time  deliver  the  government  from  the 
fear  of  a  man  whom  it  was  dangerous  to  employ,  and  might  be 
their  ruin  to  dismiss. 

"  Orlandini,  therefore,  being  confirmed  in  his  purpose  to  assas 
sinate  him,  shut  up  several  armed  men  in  his  apartment;  and 
the  next  day,  when  Baldaccio  came  to  attend  at  the  palace,  as 
he  did  most  days,  to  confer  with  the  magistracy  concerning  the 
pay  of  his  soldiers,  he  was  ordered  to  wait  on  the  standard-bearer 
immediately,  which  he  did,  without  suspecting  any  danger.  As 
soon  as  they  met,  and  had  taken  a  turn  or  two  in  the  gallery, 


88  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

which  is  before  the  chambers  of  the  signori,  they  began  to  talk 
about  their  affairs;  and  at  last,  coming  near  the  door  of  the 
apartment  where  the  armed  men  were  concealed,  the  standard- 
bearer  gave  them  a  signal,  upon  which  they  instantly  rushed  out, 
and,  as  Baldaccio  had  neither  arms  nor  attendants,  they  soon 
despatched  him,  and  threw  him  out  of  the  palace  window,  from 
whence  he  was  carried  into  the  piazza ;  and  after  they  had  cut 
off  his  head,  his  body  was  exposed  all  day  as  a  spectacle  to  the 
people. 

"  This  tragical  event  gave  a  considerable  check  to  Neri's  inte 
rest,  and  diminished  the  number  of  his  partisans.  The  governors, 
however,  did  not  stop  here ;  for,  as  they  had  been  now  ten  years 
in  the  administration,  and  the  authority  of  the  balia  was  expired, 
many  began  both  to  talk  and  act  with  much  greater  freedom 
than  they  thought  was  consistent  with  the  security  of  the  state. 
In  order,  therefore,  to  establish  themselves  in  power,  they  judged 
it  necessary  to  revive  that  court,  by  which  they  would  have  an 
opportunity  of  strengthening  the  hands  of  their  friends,  and  of 
more  effectually  depressing  their  enemies.  With  this  view  the 
councils  instituted  a  new  balia  in  the  year  1444,  which  con 
firmed  the  present  magistrates  in  their  respective  departments, 
vested  the  privilege  of  choosing  the  signori  in  a  few  hands, 
and  new-modelled  the  chancery  of  reformation,  deposing  the 
president,  Philip  Peruzzi,  and  setting  another  person  at  the 
head  of  it,  who,  they  were  well  assured,  would  conform  himself 
to  their  instructions.  They  likewise  prolonged  the  banishment 
of  such  as  they  had  before  sent  into  exile,  imprisoned  Gio 
vanni,  the  son  of  Simone  Vespucci,  and  deprived  all  those  of 
their  honors  and  employments  that  adhered  to  their  enemies; 
amongst  whom  were  the  sons  of  Piero  Baroncelli,  the  whole 
family  of  the  Seragli,  Bartolomeo  Fortini,  Francesco  Castellani, 
and  many  others.  By  such  means  they  at  the  same  time  regained 
their  former  authority  and  reputation,  quashed  all  opposition,  and 
got  entire  possession  of  the  government. 

Machiavel's  introduction  to  his  seventh  book,  according  to  his 
custom,  is  full  of  grave  reflections. 

"  Those  are  much  mistaken,  who  think  any  republican  govern 
ment  can  continue  long  united." 

So  are  they  who  think  that  any  despotical  or  monarchical 
government  can  continue  long  united  ;  it  is  as  easy  to  form 


FLORENCE.  89 

and  preserve  the  union  of  a  republican  as  of  a  monarchical 
government,  and  more  easy.  A  constitution  formed  upon  the 
nature  of  man,  and  providing  against  his  discontented  temper, 
instead  of  trusting  to  what  is  not  in  him  (his  moderation  and 
contentment  in  power)  may  preserve  union,  harmony,  and  tran 
quillity,  better  than  any  despotism.  Republics  that  trust  the 
content  of  one  assembly  or  two  assemblies,  are  as  credulous, 
ignorant,  and  servile,  as  nations  that  trust  the  moderation  of  a 
single  man.  And  it  is  as  true  of  one  as  the  other,  ubi  solitudinem 
faciunt,  pacem  appellant. 

"  Differences  and  divisions,  for  the  most  part,  are  prejudicial 
to  republics  ;  and  yet  it  is  certain  there  are  some  that  are  of 
service  to  them." 

The  same  is  true  of  despotisms  and  monarchies.  Divisions 
are  hurtful  for  the  most  part,  yet  some  are  beneficial. 

"  Those,  indeed,  are  hurtful  that  are  attended  with  parties  and 
factions  ;  but  when  that  is  not  the  case,  they  tend  to  the  benefit 
of  the  commonwealth.  As  it  is  impossible,  therefore,  for  any 
legislator  or  founder  of  a  republic  entirely  to  prevent  feuds  and 
animosities  in  it,  it  ought  to  be  his  chief  care  to  provide  against 
their  growing  up  into  factions." 

This  is  easily  done,  by  distinct  and  independent  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  powers,  and  by  two  councils  in  the  legis 
lature.  Factions  may  be  infinitely  better  managed  in  such  a 
republic,  than  in  a  despotism  or  monarchy. 

"It  must  be  considered  then,  that  there  are  two  roads  to 
popularity  in  such  states,  the  one  through  public  stations,  the 
other  through  private  life.  In  the  former,  it  is  acquired  by  gain 
ing  some  signal  victory,  by  the  prudent  and  careful  discharge  of 
an  embassy,  or  by  giving  wise  and  successful  advice  in  council ; 
in  the  latter,  by  beneficence  to  one's  fellow  citizens,  by  screening 
them  from  the  magistrates,  by  supplying  them  with  money,  by 
promoting  them  to  honors  and  employments  even  when  they  do 
not  deserve  them,  by  entertaining  the  people  with  plays  and 
spectacles,  and  by  distributing  largesses  among  them.  This 
manner  of  proceeding  procures  followers  and  partisans  ;  and  as 
popularity  thus  obtained  is  dangerous  to  the  state,  because  it  is 
commonly  applied  to  serve  private  and  self-interested  views  ;  so 
the  reputation  that  is  acquired  the  other  way  is  of  credit  and 
advantage  to  it,  when  not  made  a  tool  to  party  and  faction, 


90  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

because  it  conduces  to  the  good  of  the  whole.  And  though 
emulation  and  envy  will  always  spring  up,  even  among  citizens 
of  the  latter  sort,  yet,  as  they  have  no  partisans  that  follow  them 
for  their  own  private  ends,  they  cannot  hurt  the  commonwealth ; 
on  the  contrary,  they  must  of  necessity  be  of  service  to  it,  for 
this  very  emulation  will  naturally  excite  their  utmost  endeavors 
to  excel  each  other  in  their  merits  towards  their  country,  and 
make  them  keep  so  strict  a  watch  over  one  another's  actions,  that 
none  of  them  will  have  it  in  their  power  to  transgress  the  bounds 
of  good  citizens.  But  the  divisions  in  Florence  constantly  ended 
in  factions,  and  therefore  were  always  pernicious  to  the  republic ; 
nor  did  any  one  of  those  factions  continue  united  any  longer 
than  it  had  subdued  the  adverse  party  ;  for  when  once  that  was 
done,  and  consequently  all  fear  and  restraint  were  at  an  end,  it 
immediately  subdivided,  and  split  itself  into  others." 

In  truth,  it  is  impossible  that  divisions,  in  any  form  of  simple 
government,  should  ever  end  in  the  public  good,  or  in  any  thing 
but  faction.  The  government  itself  is  a  faction,  and  an  abso 
lute  power  in  a  party,  which,  being  without  fear  and  restraint,  is 
as  giddy  in  one  of  these  forms  as  in  any  other.  "  De  F  absolu 
pouvoir,  vous  ignorez  1'  ivresse."  It  must,  therefore,  divide,  if  it 
is  not  restrained  by  another  faction  ;  when  that  is  the  case,  as 
soon  as  the  other  faction  prevails,  they  divide,  and  so  on  ;  but 
when  the  three  natural  orders  in  society,  the  high,  the  middle,  and 
the  low,  are  all  represented  in  the  government,  and  constitution 
ally  placed  to  watch  each  other,  and  restrain  each  other  mutually 
by  the  laws,  it  is  then  only,  that  an  emulation  takes  place  for  the 
public  good,  and  divisions  turn  to  the  advantage  of  the  nation. 

"  Cosimo's  party  got  the  upper  hand  in  Florence  in  the  year 
1434 ;  but,  as  there  were  still  many  very  powerful  men  left  on 
the  side  that  was  depressed,  they  yet  stood  in  some  awe  of  them, 
and  therefore  thought  proper,  not  only  to  continue  united,  but 
to  behave  themselves  with  moderation ;  nor  were  they  guilty  of 
any  misconduct  or  oppressive  act,  of  consequence  enough  to 
draw  upon  them  the  hatred  of  the  people  ;  so  that  whenever  they 
had  occasion  for  the  suffrages  of  their  fellow-citizens  to  renew 
their  authority,  they  always  found  them  ready  to  reestablish  the 
chiefs  of  their  party  in  any  office  they  desired.  Accordingly, 
from  1434  to  1455,  a  period  of  twenty-one  years,  they  were  six 
times  appointed  by  the  general  council  to  fill  the  balia. 


FLORENCE.  91 

"  There  were  in  these  times  two  very  powerful  citizens  in 
Florence,  Cosimo  and  Neri ;  the  latter  of  whom  had  acquired 
his  reputation  in  the  public  way,  so  that  he  had  many  friends, 
but  few  followers  and  partisans.  Cosimo,  on  the  pther  hand, 
having  gained  his  authority  both  by  his  public  and  private  beha 
vior,  had  not  only  many  friends,  but  partisans  and  dependents 
also  ;  and  these  two  continuing  strictly  united,  never  found  any 
difficulty  in  obtaining  whatsoever  they  asked  from  the  people,  as 
their  power  was  founded  upon  the  favor  of  the  public.  But 
Neri  dying  in  the  year  1455,  and  the  adverse  faction  being  utterly 
suppressed,  this  administration  met  with  much  opposition  before 
they  recovered  their  former  authority  ;  and  chiefly  from  Cosimo's 
friends,  who  being  now  grown  very  powerful  in  the  state  them 
selves,  and  freed  from  all  further  apprehensions  of  their  enemies, 
were  likewise  desirous  to  lower  his  popularity.  This  jealousy 
gave  beginning  to  the  troubles  that  broke  out  in  the  year  1446  ; 
for  those  who  were. then  the  leading  men  advised  their  fellow- 
citizens,  when  they  were  assembled  in  the  general  council,  to 
take  the  state  of  the  commonwealth  into  consideration,  not  to 
create  any  more  balias,  but  to  resume  the  imborsations,  and  to 
choose  their  magistrates  by  lot  out  of  the  purses  that  had  been 
formerly  filled.  To  cure  them  of  this  frenzy,  Cosimo  had  no 
other  remedy,  but  either  to  seize  forcibly  upon  the  government, 
by  the  assistance  of  such  partisans  as  still  adhered  to  him,  and 
to  crush  all  opposition  at  once  ;  or  to  let  things  take  their  course, 
and  wait  till  time  should  convince  his  friends  that  they  were 
laboring  only  to  destroy  their  own  power  and  reputation  and  not 
his.  He  chose  the  latter  expedient ;  for  he  knew  he  should  run 
no  risk  in  that,  as  the  purses  were  filled  with  the  names  of  such 
as  were  well  affected  to  him,  and  that  he  might  consequently 
take  the  administration  into  his  hands  again  whenever  he 
pleased.  He  suffered  them  therefore  to  proceed  to  an  imborsa- 
tion  ;  but  when  the  new  magistracy  was  drawn,  and  every  one 
thought  they  had  now  fully  recovered  their  former  liberties,  the 
magistrates  began  to  act  in  their  respective  departments,  not 
according  to  the  dictates  and  directions  of  those  leaders,  but  as 
they  thought  fit  themselves  ;  so  that  sometimes  the  friend  of  one 
great  man,  sometimes  the  creature  of  another,  met  with  an  unex 
pected  rebuff';  and  those  who  before  used  to  see  their  houses 
filled  with  presents  and  solicitors,  now  had  neither  substance 


92  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

sufficient  to  live  upon,  nor  even  common  servants  to  attend 
them.  They  likewise  had  the  mortification  to  see  themselves 
reduced  to  a  level  with  such  as  they  had  used  to  look  down 
upon  with  the  highest  contempt  and  disdain  ;  and  those  who 
before  were  their  equals,  now  suddenly  advanced  far  above  them. 
They  had  neither  honor  nor  respect  shown  them  by  any  one  ; 
on  the  contrary,  they  were  insulted  and  abused  wherever  they 
went ;  and  everybody  made  so  free  with  their  private  characters 
and  public  conduct  that  they  soon  begun  to  be  aware  that  it 
was  not  Cosimo,  but  themselves  that  had  lost  their  authority. 

"  Cosimo  in  the  mean  time  took  little  or  no  notice  of  these 
things ;  but  when  any  thing  was  deliberated  upon  that  he 
thought  would  be  agreeable  to  the  people,  he  was  the  first  that 
promoted  the  execution  of  it.  But  what  struck  the  greatest  ter 
ror  into  these  grandees  and  gave  Cosimo  a  fair  opportunity  of 
making  them  repent  of  their  past  behavior,  was  the  renewal  of 
the  catasto,  established  in  1427,1  by  which  the  taxes  were  regu 
lated  and  proportioned  by  law,  and  not  levied  according  to  the 
caprice  or  pleasure  of  particular  men.  This  law  therefore  being 
revived,  and  officers  appointed  to  see  it  executed,  the  grandees 
having  had  a  consultation  together,  went  to  wait  upon  Cosimo, 
and  entreated  him  to  use  his  endeavors  to  deliver  both  them  and 
himself  out  of  the  hands  of  the  plebeians,  and  to  new-model  the 
government  in  such  a  manner  that  they  might  retrieve  the  repu 
tation  which  formerly  had  made  him  so  powerful  and  them  so 
much  respected  ;  to  which  Cosimo  made  answer,  '  that  he  would 
do  what  lay  in  his  power  for  that  purpose  with  all  his  heart, 
provided  it  could  be  brought  about  legally  and  quietly,  and  with 
the  good-will  and  approbation  of  the  people  ;  but  that  he  never 
would  consent  to  violent  measures  or  using  force  of  any  kind.' 

"  They  then  endeavored  to  get  a  law  passed  in  the  councils  for 
a  new  balia  ;  but  finding  it  would  not  go  down,  they  returned 
to  Cosimo,  and  besought  him  in  the  humblest  manner  that  he 
would  make  use  of  his  interest  to  get  it  passed  ;  but  with  this 
Cosimo  peremptorily  refused  to  comply,  being  determined  to 
make  them  fully  sensible  of  their  error.  Upon  which  Donato 
Cocchi,  who  was  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  resolved  to  set  up  a 
balia  without  his  concurrence ;  but  Cosimo  raised  such  a  spirit 

1  See  p.  73. 


FLORENCE.  93 

among  the  rest  of  the  magistrates,  that  they  not  only  opposed 
him  with  the  utmost  vehemence,  but  laughed  at  him,  and  treated 
him  with  so  much  scorn  and  derision,  that  it  drove  him  stark  mad, 
and  he  was  carried  back  to  his  own  house,  raging  and  frantic. 

"  Luca  Pitti,*  a  bold  and  resolute  man,  being  now  made  gonfa 
lonier  of  justice,  Cosimo  resolved  to  leave  the  management  to 
him  ;  so  that  if  any  miscarriage  should  happen,  or  any  odium  be 
incurred,  it  might  be  thrown  upon  the  gonfalonier,  and  not  upon 
him.  Luca  was  very  importunate  with  the  people  to  appoint 
a  balia  ;  but  perceiving  it  was  to  no  purpose,  he  not  only  treated 
those  who  were  members  of  the  councils  with  great  insolence, 
but  threatened  them,  and  soon  after  put  his  threats  in  execution  ; 
for  having  filled  the  palace  with  armed  men,  in  1458  he  called 
the  people  together  in  the  piazza,  and  there  compelled  them,  by 
force  of  arms,f  to  do  that  which  they  would  not  so  much  as 
hear  of  before.  After  they  had  thus  resumed  the  government, 
they  created  a  balia ;  and  the  new  magistrates,  at  the  instiga 
tion  of  a  few  particular  persons,  who  advised  them  to  support 
an  authority  with  terror  which  they  had  usurped  by  force,  began 
their  administration  with  sending  Girolamo  Machiavelli  and 
some  others  into  exile,  and  depriving  many  more  of  their  honors 
and  employments.  But  Girolamo,  not  observing  the  bounds 
that  were  prescribed  to  him  in  his  banishment,  was  afterwards 
declared  a  rebel ;  and,  travelling  about  Italy  to  excite  other 
states  to  make  war  upon  his  own  country,  he  was  betrayed 
and  apprehended  at  Lunigiana,  by  one  of  the  governors  of  that 
place,  who  sent  him  to  Florence,  where  he  was  put  to  death  in 
prison. 

"  This  administration  lasted  about  eight  years,  and  was  indeed 
a  very  tyrannical  and  insupportable  one;  for,  Cosimo  being  now 
grown  so  old  and  infirm  that  he  could  not  attend  to  public  affairs 
with  his  usual  assiduity,  the  government  fell  into  the  hands  of  a 
few  insolent  and  rapacious  men,  who  knighted  Lucca  Pitti  for 

*  Luca  Pitti,  tenuto  uomo  animoso,  e  molto  piu  audace,  che  savio,  o  pru- 
*  dente.  Nerli,  p.  48. 

f  Per6  avendo  Luca  Pitti  gia  consumato  il  prime  mese  del  suo  magistrato,  non 
lasoio  passare  molti  giorni  del  secondo,  che  avendo  disposto  i  signori  suoi  com- 
pagni,  e  provvisto  il  palazzo  d'  arme,  e  di  forze,  e  Cosimo,  e  gli  altri  della  parte 
essendosi  provveduti,  e  armati  in  favore  de'  signori,  fecero  chiamare  il  popolo  in 
piazza  e  si  venne  al  parlamento  secondo  il  costume  solito  mediante  il  quale  si 
creo  una  nuova  balia,  e  si  ristrinse  in  quella  lo  stato,  ordinandosi  nuove  imborsa- 
zioni,  &c.  Nciii,  p.  49. 


94  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  good  services  he  had  done  the  state;  he  had  also  rich  presents 
made  him,  not  only  from  Cosimo  and  the  signori,  but  from  all 
the  principal  citizens,  so  that  he  became  very  rich,  and  built 
several  magnificent  palaces,  and  finished  them  by  very  arbitrary 
means,  extorting  more  and  greater  presents  from  the  chief  citi 
zens,  whom  he  obliged  to  furnish  him  with  all  necessary  mate 
rials,  and  making  the  commonalty  supply  him  with  workmen 
and  artificers. 

"  The  divisions  which  arose  in  Cosimo's  party  in  1455,  were 
for  some  time  happily  composed  by  his  moderation  and  prudence; 
but  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1464  he  fell  sick,  and  soon  after 
died,*  an  event  much  lamented  both  by  his  friends  and  enemies ; 
for  those  who  did  not  love  him  for  reasons  of  state,  seeing  their 
governors  so  greedy  and  ravenous  while  he  was  alive,  and  that 
they  were  only  restrained  by  the  reverence  they  bore  to  his  person 
from  proceeding  to  open  violence,  began  to  fear,  now  he  was 
dead,  that  they  should  be  utterly  ruined  and  devoured.  They 
had  but  little  hopes  in  his  son  Piero,  who,  though  a  very  worthy 
man,  had  so  weakly  a  constitution,  and  was  yet  so  raw  and 
inexperienced  in  matters  of  government,  that  they  thought  he 
would  be  obliged  to  comply  with  the  measures  of  the  others ; 
and  there  being  no  longer  any  person  of  sufficient  authority  left 
to  check  their  career,  they  would  become  every  day  more  and 
more  oppressive. 

"  The  loss  of  Cosimo  was  therefore  universally  regretted,  and 
with  great  reason ;  for,  considering  he  was  no  soldier,  he  was  the 
most  renowned  and  illustrious  citizen  that  Florence  or  any  other 
republic  in  the  memory  of  man  had  produced.  As  he  surpassed 
all  others  of  his  time  in  riches  and  authority,  so  he  far  exceeded 
every  one  in  prudence,  liberality,  and  magnificence ;  which  great 
and  amiable  qualities  made  him  the  head  of  his  country.  Though 
he  showed  a  truly  royal  spirit  in  his  great  works  and  actions,  and 
was  in  fact  the  sovereign  of  Florence,  yet  so  remarkable  were  his 
prudence  and  moderation,  that  he  never  transgressed  those  bounds 
of  decency  which  ought  to  be  observed  by  a  modest  republican.  < 
In  his  little  parties  of  pleasure,  in  his  conversation,  in  his  alliances, 
and  in  every  respect,  he  both  acted  and  spoke  like  any  other 
citizen;  well  knowing  that  pomp  and  pageantry,  and  ostentatious 

*  In  1464,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.     Nerli,  p.  49. 


FLORENCE.  95 

parade,  are  not  only  of  little  real  service,  but  excite  that  envy 
among  men  which  is  not  incident  to  such  actions  as  are  done 
with  an  appearance  of  modesty  and  humility.  No  man  of  hi? 
time  had  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  mankind  in  general.  In 
all  the  various  revolutions  of  so  fickle  and  fluctuating  a  common 
wealth,  he  maintained  his  authority  for  the  space  of  thirty-one 
years;  for,  as  he  was  naturally  sagacious,  he  foresaw  dangers 
afar  off,  and  therefore  took  timely  care  to  prevent  them.  This 
great  man  was  born  in  1389.  The  former  part  of  his  life  was 
full  of  troubles  and  disasters ;  but  afterwards  fortune  was  so  pro 
pitious  to  him,  that  not  only  all  those  who  adhered  to  him  in  the 
public  administration  of  the  commonwealth  were  aggrandized 
and  enriched  by  it,  but  such  as  negotiated  his  private  affairs 
abroad  (as  he  had  factors  in  almost  every  part  of  Europe)  acquired 
great  wealth ;  so  that  many  families  in  Florence  raised  immense 
fortunes  under  his  influence,  and  several  others  owed  every  thing 
they  had  entirely  to  his  advice  and  assistance.  He  was  conti 
nually  laying  out  vast  sums  in  churches,  public  buildings,  and 
charities  of  different  kinds.  He  was  likewise  a  great  patron  and 
benefactor  to  learned  men,  and  first  brought  Argyropulus  to  Flo 
rence,  a  Grecian  by  birth,  and  the  greatest  scholar  of  his  age,  to 
instruct  the  youth  of  Florence  in  the  Greek  tongue,  and  made 
him  preceptor  to  his  son  and  nephew.  This  writer  dedicated  his 
works  to  the  family  of  Medici;  namely,  —  his  translation  of  Aris 
totle's  Ethics  and  Physics,  his  own  book  De  Regno,  &c.  Cosimo 
was  at  the  expense  of  maintaining  Marcilius  Ficinus,  the  restorer 
of  the  Platonic  philosophy,  who  translated  the  works  of  Plato, 
Plotinus,  Jamblichus,  Proclus,  &c.;  and  he  had  so  great  an  esteem 
for  him,  that  he  gave  him  a  house  and  estate  near  his  own  seat 
at  Careggi,  that  he  might  pursue  his  studies  there  with  more 
convenience,  and  entertain  him  with  his  conversation  at  leisure 
hours." 

So  that  he  had  great  merit  in  the  resurrection  of  letters,  and 
perhaps  in  the  formation  of  Machiavel  himself,  to  whom  the 
world  is  so  much  indebted  for  the  revival  of  reason  in  matters  of 
government,  and  who  appears  to  have  been  himself  so  much 
indebted  to  the  writings  of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  Indeed,  if  ever 
the  rise  of  any  family  to  absolute  sovereignty  upon  the  ruins  of 
a  republic  could  be  pardonable,  this  of  the  Medici,  which  was  by 
real  virtues,  abilities,  and  beneficence,  must  be  acknowledged  to 


96  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

be  an  instance  of  it.  But  it  never  can  be  justified,  nor  ought 
ever  to  be  excused,  where  there  is  a  possibility  of  establishing  a 
constitution  well  balanced  and  really  free ;  and  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  any  nation  that  has  once  been  free  can  ever 
become  so  universally  or  even  generally  corrupted  as  not  to  be 
able  to  conduct  a  government  of  three  well-balanced  branches. 
He  died  full  of  glory,  and  with  the  highest  reputation.  After  his 
death,  all  the  states  and  princes  of  Christendom  sent  compliments 
of  condolence  to  his  son  Pietro ;  and  he  has  this  inscription  en 
graved  on  his  tomb  by  a  public  decree,  —  "The  Father  of  his 
Country."  He  appears  to  have  had  more  merit,  as  well  as  more 
art,  than  Augustus.  Machiavel  is  conscious  that  he  shall  be  sus 
pected  of  writing  a  panegyric  upon  Cosimo,  rather  than  an  his 
torical  portrait ;  and  not  without  reason,  for  he  was  a  depend 
ent  on  the  Medici  family;  and  he  has  evidently  hurried  over 
some,  and  glossed  over  others  of  Cosimo's  acts. 

It  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  pursue  this  history,  and  relate  the 
conspiracies  which  were  formed  against  Piero  and  the  Medici, 
or  the  suppression  of  them.  The  name  of  Medici  had  become  a 
charm  in  the  ears  of  the  Florentines,  like  that  of  Hercules  among 
the  Greeks,  Caesar  among  the  Romans,  Orange  among  the  Dutch, 
and  others  without  end ;  and  if  absolute  power  must  be  esta 
blished,  it  was  as  well  in  the  Medici  as  the  Pazzi.  But  Leo  X. 
is  not  so  excusable  for  not  adopting  a  wiser  plan. 

"About  the  time  of  the  death  of  Cosimo,  Louis  XL  of  France 
was  embroiled  in  a  troublesome  war,  raised  against  him  by  his 
barons,  at  the  instigation  of  Francis,  Duke  of  Bretagne,  and 
Charles,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  which  they  called  the  war  for  the 
public  good.*  It  lay  so  heavy  upon  him,  that  he  could  give  no 
further  assistance  to  John,  Duke  of  Anjou,  in  his  designs  upon 
Genoa  and  Naples.  Hence  Ferdinand  of  Arragon  became  King 
of  Naples,  and  Count  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan  and  Lord  of  Genoa ; 
and  these  two  having  contracted  family  alliances  together,  began 
to  take  all  proper  measures  to  establish  themselves  and  their 
posterity  in  their  governments.  For  this  purpose  it  was  judged 
necessary  that  the  king  should,  in  the  first  place,  make  sure  of 
such  of  the  nobility  as  had  taken  part  with  John  of  Anjou  against 
him  in  the  late  wars.  The  king  made  use  of  every  artifice  to 

*  Philip  de  Comines. 


FLORENCE.  97 

reconcile  his  nobility  to  him,  and  at  last  succeeded ;  for  they  saw 
that  if  they  continued  in  arms  against  their  sovereign,  they  must 
inevitably  be  ruined  ;  but  if  they  came  to  an  accommodation  with 
him,  or  submitted  to  his  mercy,  they  might  obtain  a  pardon. 
Accordingly,  these  noblemen  made  their  submission  to  him ;  but 
they  were  afterwards,  upon  one  pretence  or  other,  at  different 
times  all  put  to  death." 

"  In  1465,  Paul  the  Second,  a  Venetian,  was  elected  pope ;  and 
the  next  year,  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Galeazzo ;  an  event  that  not  only  added  fuel  to  the 
animosities  that  were  rekindling  in  Florence,  but  occasioned  them 
to  burst  out  into  a  flame.  For,  after  the  death  of  Cosimo,  his  son 
Peter,  being  left  heir  to  his  riches  and  authority,  thought  proper 
to  attach  himself  to  Neroni,  a  man  of  very  great  power  and  repu 
tation  in  the  city,  and  of  whom  Cosimo  had  so  great  an  opinion, 
that  upon  his  death-bed  he  gave  Peter  a  strict  charge  to  consult 
him,  and  to  be  guided  entirely  by  his  advice  in  every  thing  that 
related  either  to  the  management  of  his  own  estate  or  the  admi 
nistration  of  the  public.  In  consequence  of  this  command,  Peter 
sent  for  him,  and  having  told  him  how  great  a  confidence  his 
father  had  reposed  in  him,  said  he  hoped  he  would  assist  him 
both  in  conducting  his  private  concerns  and  in  the  government 
of  the  city.  Neroni  promised  to  serve  him  faithfully ;  but  when 
they  came  to  examine  Cosimo's  books,  they  found  his  affairs  in 
very  great  confusion.  Neroni,  therefore,  who  was  more  influenced 
by  motives  of  self-interest  and  ambition  than  either  by  the  friend 
ship  he  had  professed  for  Peter,  or  the  remembrance  of  the  obli 
gations  he  lay  under  to  his  father,  thinking  he  had  now  a  fair 
opportunity  of  ruining  that  reputation  and  authority  to  which 
Cosimo  left  him  heir,  gave  him  a  piece  of  advice,  which,  to  all 
appearance  indeed,  seemed  both  equitable  and  necessary,  but 
ultimately  tended  to  his  destruction.  He  represented  to  him  in 
how  great  disorder  his  affairs  were,  and  what  large  sums  of  money 
he  would  have  immediate  occasion  for,  if  he  intended  to  support 
his  family  interest,  and  the  reputation  they  had  acquired  of  opu 
lence  and  power  in  the  commonwealth ;  and  that  there  could  be 
no  relief  or  expedient  so  proper  as  to  call  in  the  debts  that  were 
owing  to  him,  both  from  foreigners  and  his  fellow-citizens ;  for 
Cosimo,  out  of  his  natural  generosity,  and  in  order  to  establish 
an  influence  at  home  and  gain  friends  abroad,  had  always  been 

VOL.  v.  9  G 


98  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

so  ready  to  open  his  purse  to  every  one  who  stood  in  need  of  his 
assistance,  that  those  debts  arose  to  a  prodigious  amount.  To 
this  proposal,  which  seemed  but  just  and  reasonable,  Peter  con 
sented,  and,  like  an  honest  man,  resolved  to  make  use  of  his  own 
substance  only  in  that  emergency;  but  he  had  hardly  called  upon 
two  or  three  of  his  debtors,  before  the  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar, 
every  one  upbraiding  him  with  avarice  and  ingratitude,  and  load 
ing  him  with  all  manner  of  reproaches  and  ignominious  names, 
as  if  he  had  come  to  plunder  them  of  their  own  property,  instead 
of  demanding  payment  of  a  lawful  debt. 

"  Neroni,  seeing  the  general  resentment  which  his  own  counsel 
had  excited  against  Peter,  turned  his  back  upon  him,  and  entered 
into  a  combination  with  Luca  Pitti,  Soderini,  and  Acciaivoli, 
to  deprive  him  of  all  power  and  authority  in  the  state.  The  end 
they  all  had  in  view  was  the  same ;  but  their  motives  to  pursue 
it  were  very  different.  Pitti  was  ambitious  to  succeed  Cosimo  in 
the  government  of  the  republic ;  and  he  became  so  great  after  his 
death,  that  he  disdained  the  thoughts  of  stooping  to  Peter.  Ne 
roni,  who  knew  that  Pitti  was  not  equal  to  so  great  a  charge, 
thought,  that  if  they  could  by  any  means  get  rid  of  Peter,  the 
chief  power  must  of  necessity  in  a  short  time  devolve  upon 
him;  Soderini  was  desirous  that  the  city  should  enjoy  more 
liberty,  and  be  governed  by  the  proper  magistrates,  as  it  used  to 
be  in  former  times  ;  Acciaivoli  had  a  particular  quarrel  with  the 
Medici ;  thinking  Cosimo  had  not  used  him  well  in  an  award 
between  his  son  and  his  wife,  and  not  being  able  to  revenge  him 
self  upon  Cosimo,  he  was  now  determined  to  do  it  upon  Peter. 

"  However,  they  all  availed  themselves  of  the  same  pretext, 
and  said,  that  they  neither  desired  nor  aimed  at  any  thing  further 
than  that  the  republic  might  be  governed  by  lawful  magistrates, 
and  not  by  a  little  junto  of  particular  persons.  The  failure  of 
several  merchants  about  that  time  still  increased  the  clamor  that 
was  raised  against  Peter,  and  gave  the  people  fresh  occasion  to 
revile  him;  for  they  made  no  scruple  of  imputing  the  blame  to 
him,  and  said,  that  the  sudden  and  unexpected  calling  in  of  his 
money  had  been  the  occasion  of  those  bankruptcies,  to  the  great 
loss  and  discredit  of  the  merchants  in  particular,  and  the  preju 
dice  of  the  whole  city.  Besides  all  which,  as  he  was  going  to 
marry  Lorenzo,  his  eldest  son,  to  Clarissa  de  gli  Orsini,  everybody 
took  occasion  from  thence  to  calumniate  him;  publicly  declaring, 


FLORENCE.  99 

that  since  he  could  not  think  any  match  in  Florence  good  enough 
for  his  son,  it  was  plain  he  did  not  regard  them  any  longer  in 
the  light  of  fellow-citizens,  but  was  taking  his  measures  to  make 
himself  their  sovereign.  From  such  a  temper  in  the  people, 
these  ringleaders  of  sedition  promised  themselves  certain  suc 
cess,  especially  as  the  greater  part  of  the  citizens  were  so  bewitched 
with  the  name  of  liberty,  which  had  been  made  use  of  to  varnish 
over  those  private  designs  that  they  cheerfully  listed  under  their 
banners. 

"  But  while  these  ill  humors  were  fermenting,  there  were  some 
who,  out  of  a  real  love  for  their  country,  and  abhorrence  of  civil 
discord,  resolved  to  try  if  they  could  not  stay  them,  for  a 
while  at  least,  by  turning  the  attention  of  the  people  upon  some 
more  entertaining  object;  considering,  that  an  idle  populace  is 
generally  made  use  of  as  a  tool  to  serve  the  purposes  of  such  as 
attempt  innovation.  To  employ  them,  therefore,  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  might  best  divert  their  thoughts,  and  prevent  them  from 
entering  into  cabals  and  conspiracies  against  the  government, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  console  them  in  some  measure,  after 
their  mourning  for  the  loss  of  Cosimo,  who  had  now  been  dead 
a  year,  these  citizens  thought  it  would  be  no  bad  expedient  to 
revive  the  public  spectacles  with  which  the  people  used  to  be 
entertained.  Tournaments  also  were  instituted,  in  which  Lo 
renzo  carried  away  the  prize  from  all  others. 

"But  as  soon  as  these  entertainments  were  over,  the  citizens 
returned  to  their  former  machinations  with  more  ardor  than  ever; 
from  whence  arose  great  troubles  and  divisions,  which  were  much 
inflamed  by  the  expiration  of  the  balia,  and  the  death  of  Francis 
Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan.  Galeazzo,  the  new  duke,  sent  ambassa 
dors  to  Florence,  to  confirm  the  treaty  of  alliance  that  had  been 
concluded  between  his  father  and  the  republic;  one  article  of 
which  was,  that  the  Florentines  should  pay  that  prince  a  certain 
yearly  subsidy.  The  principal  of  Peter's  enemies  took  the  oppor 
tunity  which  this  demand  furnished,  of  publicly  opposing  him  in 
council,  and  refused  to  comply  with  it." 

We  may  pass  over  the  long,  though  entertaining  account  of 
the  commotions,  intrigues,  and  civil  war  between  one  party, 
whose  object  was  the  ruin  of  Peter  and  the  Medici  family,  both 
in  their  private  affairs  and  in  their  public  influence,  and  the 
other,  who  exerted  themselves  for  their  preservation.  The  last 


100  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

prevailed,  and  the  other  was  banished  and  confiscated.  Some 
of  these  fled  to  Venice,  and  harangued  the  senate  of  that  republic 
into  a  war  against  Florence  and  the  Medici ;  but  this  war  was 
unsuccessful ;  peace  was  soon  made ;  and  the  Florentine  exiles, 
deprived  of  all  hopes  of  ever  returning  to  their  country,  dispersed 
into  different  places.  Tranquillity  abroad  succeeded;  but  now 
the  Florentines  were  grievously  harassed  and  oppressed  at  home 
by  the  tyranny  and  ambition  of  their  fellow-citizens ;  for  Peter 
was  so  disabled  by  his  infirmities,  that  he  had  it  not  in  his  power 
to  curb  the  insolence  of  his  own  partisans,  or  to  provide  any  re 
medy;  he  sent,  however,  for  the  principal  of  them,  and  sharply  re 
primanded  them.  It  is  generally  believed  that,  if  he  had  lived,  he 
would  have  recalled  the  exiles,  to  bridle  the  tyranny  and  rapacity 
of  his  own  friends ;  but  death,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age, 
put  an  end  to  these  good  designs.  He  left  two  sons,  Lorenzo 
and  Giuliano,  both  very  promising. 

"  Soderini  was  at  this  time  the  most  considerable  among  the 
leading  men  of  the  state,  and  for  his  prudence  and  authority, 
in  great  reputation,  not  only  in  Florence,  but  with  all  the  princes 
of  Italy ;  so  that  after  the  death  of  Peter,  he  had  the  highest 
reverence  and  respect  shown  him  by  all  the  citizens,  who  daily 
resorted  in  great  numbers  to  his  house  ;  and  several  states  and 
princes  addressed  their  letters  to  him,  as  head  of  the  com 
monwealth.  But  as  he  was  a  wise  man,  and  thoroughly 
understood  his  own  fortune,  and  likewise  that  of  the  Medici,  he 
modestly  declined  returning  any  answer  to  those  letters  ;  and 
gave  his  fellow-citizens  to  understand,  that  it  was  not  to 
him,  but  the  Medici,  that  they  ought  to  pay  their  court. 
He  assembled  the  heads  of  all  the  chief  families  in  the  city, 
and  presented  to  them  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano,  and  said,  that 
if  they  were  desirous  to  live  in  peace  and  union  at  home, 
and  secure  from  foreign  invasions,  it  was  necessary  to  con 
tinue  their  observance  to  the  house  of  Medici,  and  support 
those  young  gentlemen  in  the  authority  which  their  ances 
tors  had  enjoyed  ;  that  it  was  but  natural  to  show  the  same 
regard  to  the  family,  which  they  had  so  long  been  used  to 
do,  and  therefore  it  must  rather  be  a  pleasure,  than  a  grievance, 
to  them  ;  for  if  mankind  were  apt  to  be  fond  of  novelties,  they 
were,  for  the  most  part,  as  soon  disgusted  with  them  ;  that  it 
had  been  found  much  more  easy  to  maintain  a  power,  the  envy 


FLORENCE.  101 

against  which  was,  in  a  manner,  extinguished  by  time,  than  to 
raise  another,  which  must  unavoidably  be  subject  to  new  emu 
lations  and  speedy  ruin  from  many  causes  and  unforeseen  acci 
dents.  Lorenzo,  too,  though  very  young,  made  a  speech  with 
much  gravity  and  modesty.  The  citizens,  before  the  assembly 
broke  up,  solemnly  engaged  to  be  guardians  of  their  youth,  and 
they,  on  the  other  hand,  as  solemnly  promised  to  reverence  them 
at  all  times  as  their  protectors  and  parents." 

After  which,  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano  were  looked  upon  as  the 
heads  of  the  republic,  and  putting  themselves  under  the  gui 
dance  and  direction  of  Soderini,  the  state  seemed  to  be  perfectly 
composed,  neither  distracted  by  intestine  discords,  nor  embroiled 
in  foreign  wars.  But  Bernardo  de'  Nardi  soon  found  means 
to  excite  the  ruined  families,  who  had  been  exiled  at  the  fall  of 
Luca  Pitti,  to  kindle  another  war,  which  was  extinguished  only 
by  the  destruction  of  the  town  of  Prato.  After  this  insurrec 
tion,  which  was  suddenly  raised  and  soon  suppressed,  the 
citizens  of  Florence  began  to  sink  into  luxury  and  effeminacy. 
The  youth,  growing  more  dissolute  than  ever  they  had  been 
before,  and  having  nothing  else  to  do,  threw  away  their  time 
and  estates  in  dress,  in  feasting,  in  gaming,  in  women,  and 
other  such  dissipations.  Their  whole  study  and  emulation  was 
to  surpass  each  other  in  fine  clothes. 

A  new  war  broke  out  on  occasion  of  a  mine  of  alum  dis 
covered  at  Volterra.  Soderini  thought  a  "  lean  peace  better 
than  a  fat  war ;  "  but  Lorenzo,  thinking  this  a  favorable  oppor 
tunity  of  distinguishing  himself,  and  being  supported  in  his 
opinion  by  those  who  envied  the  authority  of  Soderini,  his 
opinion  prevailed,  and  Volterra  was  reduced. 

In  1476  happened  the  assassination  of  Galeazzo,  Duke  of 
Milan,  and  the  destruction  of  the  assassins,  who,  as  usual  in 
such  cases,  were  left  unsupported,  both  by  the  nobility  and  the 
multitude  who  had  at  first  encouraged  them.  Such  examples 
ought  to  be  warnings  to  princes,  to  reign  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  make  themselves  honored  and  beloved  by  their  subjects  ;  and 
to  others,  against  trusting  to  nobles  or  the  multitude,  except  in 
a  very  good  cause  ;  for  though  these  may  be  discontented  to  the 
last  degree,  they  will  seldom  stir  a  foot  to  their  assistance  in 
distress  or  danger. 

"  After  the  Medici  had  gained  such  an  ascendant,  by  the 
9* 


102  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

defeat  of  their  enemies  in  1466,1  they  grew  so  powerful,  that 
they  in  a  manner  engrossed  the  government  of  the  republic 
wholly  to  themselves  ;  and  their  power  was  so  great,  that  such 
as  were  disaffected  to  their  administration,  were  either  obliged 
to  submit  to  it  with  patience,  or  endeavor  to  shake  off  the  yoke 
by  clandestine  machinations  and  conspiracies ;  which  being 
attended  with  great  difficulties  and  dangers,  for  the  most  part 
end  in  the  ruin  of  the  conspirators,  and  only  serve  still  more  to 
aggrandize  and  strengthen  those  against  whom  they  are  formed. 
Italy  was  divided  into  two  confederacies  ;  the  pope  and  the  King 
of  Naples  were  on  one  side  ;  the  Venetians,  the  Duke  of  Milan, 
and  the  Florentines,  on  the  other.  When  Philip  de'  Medici, 
Archbishop  of  Pisa,  died,  the  pope  appointed  Francesco  Salviati, 
an  enemy  of  the  family  of  Medici,  to  succeed  him.  The  signori  re 
fused  to  give  him  possession  of  the  see.  The  Medici  were  dis 
countenanced  upon  all  occasions  at  the  court  of  Rome,  while  the 
greatest  respect  and  partiality  were  shown  there  to  the  Pazzi,  a 
family,  indeed,  which  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  richest  and 
most  powerful  in  Florence.  Cosirno,  considering  their  opulence 
and  quality,  had  married  his  granddaughter,  Bianca,  to  Gugliel- 
mo  de'  Pazzi,  in  hopes  of  uniting  the  two  families  more  strictly, 
and  hoping  to  prevent  all  jealousies  and  emulation  betwixt 
them  by  such  an  alliance. 

"  But  so  vain  and  fallacious  are  all  human  designs,  that  the 
event  proved  quite  contrary  to  his  expectation,  for  some  of 
Lorenzo's  friends  having  insinuated  to  him  that  it  would  be  dan 
gerous  to  him,  and  a  diminution  of  his  own  authority,  to  throw 
any  more  power  into  the  hands  of  that  family,  he  would  not 
suffer  Giacopo,  nor  any  of  his  brothers  or  nephews,  to  enjoy 
such  honors  and  offices  as  they  seemed  in  the  opinion  of  their 
fellow-citizens  to  deserve.  The  Pazzi  were  so  exasperated  at 
this  usage,  that  the  Medici  began  to  be  afraid  of  them ;  and  the 
apprehensions  of  the  one  seemed  to  increase  in  proportion  to  the 
resentment  of  the  other ;  for  in  all  competitions  for  places  of 
honor  or  profit,  the  Pazzi,  how  much  soever  they  might  be  favored 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  were  always  sure  to  be  set  aside 
and  rejected  by  the  magistracy.  The  Pazzi,  therefore,  thinking  it 
intolerable  that  people  of  their  rank  and  fortune  should  be 

1  Lib.  viii. 


FLORENCE.  103 

treated  in  that  injurious  manner,  began  to  meditate  revenge. 
Francesco  accordingly  concerted  a  conspiracy  with  many  other 
persons,  and  attempted  to  assassinate  both  the  Medici  at  church. 
Giuliano  was  murdered  with  such  circumstances  of  perfidy  as 
would  disgrace  the  most  infamous  cause,  much  more  a  cause 
dignified  with  the  name  of  liberty.  Lorenzo  defended  himself 
with  great  bravery,  and  escaped  with  a  slight  wound.  The 
insurgents  rode  about  the  town,  and  cried,  Liberty !  liberty ! 
and  called  upon  the  people  to  join  them.  But  such  was  the 
influence  of  the  Medici,  and  so  much  were  they  beloved,  on 
account  of  their  liberality  and  other  princely  qualities,  that  the 
rest  of  their  fellow-citizens  did  not  desire  to  see  any  change  of 
government.  The  whole  city  was  raised,  and  Lorenzo  safely 
conducted  by  a  great  number  of  armed  men  to  his  own  house. 
The  palace  was  recovered  by  the  people,  and  all  those  who  had 
seized  upon  it  were  either  taken  or  killed  ;  the  streets  resounded 
with  shouts  of,  Long  live  the  Medici!  while  the  limbs  of  the  con 
spirators  who  had  been  killed  were  either  carried  upon  halberds, 
or  dragged  round  the  city ;  every  one  endeavoring  to  show  his 
resentment,  both  in  words  and  actions,  against  the  Pazzi;  for 
they  not  only  plundered  their  houses,  but  hurried  Francesco  out 
of  his  bed  to  the  palace,  and  there  hung  him  up,  close  by  the 
archbishop  and  his  associates.  So  great  was  the  favor  and  in 
terest  which  the  family  of  the  Medici  had  gained  among  the 
people,  by  their  prudence  and  liberality,  that  there  was  not  a 
citizen  of  any  degree  whatsoever  who  did  not  go  to  Lorenzo, 
and  make  him  an  offer  both  of  his  person  and  fortune.  Rinato 
and  Giacopo  de'  Pazzi  were  both  apprehended,  condemned,  and 
executed,  with  so  many  others,  that  the  streets  and  highways 
were  full  of  their  limbs.  None  of  them  were  much  lamented, 
except  Rinato,  who  had  always  been  esteemed  a  prudent  man, 
and  void  of  that  family  pride  which  was  laid  to  the  charge  of 
all  the  rest." 

After  the  conspiracy  was  suppressed, '  and  the  authors  of  it 
punished,  the  funeral  of  Giuliano  was  solemnized  with  great 
pomp,  and  attended  by  all  the  citizens.  He  left  one  son,  born 
some  months  after  his  death,  and  named  Giulio,  who  was  after 
wards  Pope  Clement  VII. 

"  The  pope  and  the  King  of  Naples,  disappointed  in  bringing 
about  a  change  of  government  in  Florence  by  underhand 


104  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

machinations,  now  resolved  to  attempt  it  by  open  war  ;  but  the 
good  fortune  of  the  family,  Lorenzo's  address,  and  the  steady 
attachment  of  the  Florentines  to  him,  carried  them  safely 
through  this  danger  too.  After  the  quarrels  among  the  more 
considerable  states  were  composed,  in  the  course  of  several 
years  there  happened  many  other  disturbances  in  Romagna,  La 
Marca  d'Ancona,  and  Siena ;  they  were  more  frequent  in  Siena 
than  anywhere  else,  after  the  departure  of  the  Duke  of  Calabria, 
in  1488  ;  but  after  many  changes  and  revolutions  there,  in  which 
sometimes  the  commonalty,  and  sometimes  the  nobility  pre 
vailed,  the  nobility  at  last  effectually  suppressing  the  other 
party,  Pandolpho  and  Giacopo  Petrucci,  one  of  whom  was  in 
the  highest  repute  for  his  wisdom,  and  the  other  for  his  valor, 
became,  in  a  manner,  princes  of  that  city. 

"As  for  the  Florentines,  they  lived  very  happily,  and  in  perfect 
tranquillity,  from  the  end  of  the  war  till  the  death  of  Lorenzo, 
in  1492.  For  Lorenzo,  having  established  a  general  peace 
throughout  Italy  by  his  great  wisdom  and  prudence,  had  begun 
to  turn  his  thoughts  entirely  to  the  aggrandizement  of  the 
republic  and  the  care  of  his  own  family.  In  the  first  place,  he 
married  his  eldest  son  Peter  to  Alfonsina,  daughter  to  Cavaliere 
Orsino,  and  procured  a  cardinal's  hat  for  Giovanni,  his  second 
son,  who  was  not  quite  thirteen  years  of  age  when  he  was  pro 
moted  to  that  dignity,  of  which  there  had  been  no  example 
before  ;  but  he  ascended  by  degrees  through  all  the  preferments 
of  the  church,  till  he  was  exalted  to  the  pontificate,  under  the 
name  of  Leo  X.  His  third  son,  Giuliano,  was  but  an  infant. 
He  also  disposed  of  his  daughters  very  much  to  their  advantage. 
In  his  mercantile  affairs  he  was  rather  unfortunate  ;  for  such  was 
the  extravagance  of  his  factors,  who  lived  more  like  princes  than 
private  men,  that  they  had  dissipated  the  greater  part  of  his 
merchandise  ;  so  that  he  was  often  obliged  to  borrow  large  sums 
of  the  public.  His  chief  desire  was  to  promote  union  among 
the  people,  and  support  the  nobility  in  that  degree  of  honor  and 
respect  that  was  due  to  them.  He  showed  great  favor  to  those 
who  excelled  in  any  art,  and  was  a  very  liberal  patron  to  learned 
men.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  poetry,  music,  and  archi 
tecture.  He  founded  the  University  of  Pisa.  Immediately 
after  his  death,  such  sparks  of  discord  began  to  rekindle,  as 
shortly  broke  out  into  a  flame,  and  preyed  upon  the  vitals  of 
Italy." 


FLORENCE.  105 

Peter,  the  great-grandson  of  the  first  Cosimo,  having  entered 
into  a  league  with  Louis  XII.  of  France,  without  the  consent 
of  the  signori,  was  ejected  by  the  Florentines,  and  retired  to 
Venice;  so  that  the  Florentines  recovered  and  enjoyed  their 
ancient  liberties  till  1512,  when  Ferdinand,  King  of  Spain,  re 
stored  the  family  of  Medici.  It  was  again  expelled  in  1529. 
In  1530,  Charles  V.  seized  upon  Florence,  and  made  Alexander 
de'  Medici,  great  grandson  of  Lorenzo,  and  who  married  his 
natural  daughter  Margaret,  sovereign  and  duke  of  Florence. 
Alexander  was  murdered  about  seven  years  after,  and  having 
left  no  children,  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  John,  whose  son 
Cosimo  was  created  Grand-Duke  of  Tuscany,  by  Pope  Pius  V. 
in  1569.  Voltaire  says,  that  the  period  while  Florence  was 
under  the  government  of  the  Medici  ought  to  be  called  the 
Medicean  age,  as  the  polite  arts  and  sciences  were  then  carried 
to  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  ;  then  it  was  that  those  great 
geniuses,  Ariosto,  Machiavel,  Guicciardini,  Cardinal  Bembo, 
Trissino,  Casa,  Bernini,  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo,  Titian,  Paul 
Veronese,  and  so  many  others,  adorned  the  age,  and  rendered 
their  names  immortal. 


CHAPTER    SECOND. 

* 

FLORENCE. 

GUICCIARDINI  begins  his  history  of  the  wars  in  Italy,  where 
Machiavel  concludes  that  of  Florence,  with  the  death  of  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici  in  April,  1492,  the  same  year  that  the  sagacity,  forti 
tude,  and  good  fortune  of  that  ever  memorable  native  of  Cogu- 
retto,  a  village  near  Genoa,  Christopher  Columbus,  of  plebeian 
birth,  but  of  noble  genius,  in  the  service  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  of  Spain,*  laid  the  first  foundation  of  the  constitutions 
of  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  The  death  of  Lorenzo  was  a  severe  misfortune  to  his  coun 
try,  which  had  flourished  under  the  influence  of  his  prudence, 
reputation,  and  genius,  in  all  the  blessings  and  embellishments 
of  a  long  and  secure  peace  ;  and  very  inconvenient  to  all  Italy, 
who  regarded  him  as  a  principal  counterbalance  to  Ferdinand 
of  Naples,  and  Sforza  of  Milan,  princes  as  ambitious  as  they 
were  powerful. 

"  Peter  II.,  the  eldest  of  his  three  sons,  who  succeeded  him 
without  contradiction,  was  not  qualified  by  experience  or  abili 
ties  for  so  important  a  station.  Deviating  early  from  the  coun 
cils  of  his  father,  and  without  consulting  the  principal  citizens, 
he  was  wholly  directed  by  Orsino,  a  relation  both  by  his  mother 
and  his  wife,  but  a  dependent  of  Ferdinand.  This  new  connec 
tion,  so  prudently  avoided  by  his  father,  excited  the  jealousy  of 
Sforza,  and  was  the  source  of  all  the  ensuing  evils." 

Without  reciting  the  particulars  of  his  vanity,  rashness,  and 
imprudence,  especially  a  foolish  treaty  with  France,  which  he 
made  without  consulting  the  magistrates,  it  is  sufficient  to  say, 
"  that,  on  the  ninth  of  November,  1494,  as  he  was  going  into 
the  palace,  Nerli,  a  youth  of  noble  birth  and  great  wealth,  at 
the  head  of  some  others  of  the  magistracy,  stood  armed  at  the 
gates,|  and  forbade  him  to  enter.  The  populace,  as  soon  as  the 

*  Muratori,  Annali,  torn.  ix.  p.  367,  anno  1492. 

Guicciardin,  lib.  6.  Americus  Vespucius,  who  began  his  voyages  in  1497,  the 
first  two  of  which  he  made  by  order  of  Ferdinand  of  Castile,  and  the  last  two 
by  order  of  Emanuel  of  Portugal,  was  a  native  of  Florence. 

f  Nerli,  p.  62.     Muratori,  Annal.  torn.  ix.  p.  374,  anno  1494.     Fu  egli  dichi- 


FLORENCE.  107 

report  of  this  insurrection  spread  in  the  town,  instantly  took 
arms.  Peter,  destitute  of  courage  as  well  as  advice,  returned  to 
his  own  house,  where  he  was  informed  that  the  magistrates  had 
declared  him  a  rebel ;  upon  which  he  fled  with  precipitation  to 
Bologna,  and  was  followed  by  his  two  brothers,  Giovanni  the 
cardinal,  and  Giuliano,  who  were  likewise  attainted.  Thus, 
through  the  rashness  and  levity  of  a  thoughtless  youth,  the 
family  of  the  Medici  fell,  for  the  time,  from  a  sovereign  power 
which  they  had  exercised  for  sixty  years.  From  Bologna  they 
went  to  Venice.  After  some  time,  the  king,  their  ally,  ob 
tained  a  reversal  of  Peter's  attainder,  and  that  of  his  two 
brothers,  and  a  restitution  of  their  effects,  on  condition  that  Peter 
should  not  approach  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  borders  of 
the  republic.  This  was  designed  to  prevent  him  from  settling  in 
Rome  ;  his  brothers  were  not  to  come  within  a  hundred  miles 
of  the  city." 

After  the  exile  of  Peter  and  his  brothers,  the  city  of  Florence 
attempted  once  more  to  reform  its  government ;  *  "  but,"  says 
Neiii,  "  the  citizens  who  ought  to  have  reformed  the  state,  fell 
into  the  same  error  with  all  who  had  preceded  them  in  similar 
enterprises,  and  founded  the  new  government,  as  others  had  done 
whose  steps  they  followed,  upon  parties  and  civil  factions,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  whole  history  of  Florence,  and  for  the  benefit 
and  convenience  of  the  superior  party  and  more  powerful  factions, 
and  not  at  all  for  the  benefit  of  the  generality,  or  the  universal 
good  ;  and  therefore  it  was  impossible  that  a  pacific  and  quiet 
republic  should  succeed,  or  a  durable  government  be  established. 
They  created,  however,  according  to  the  ancient  custom  of  the 
city,  and  by  means  of  a  parliament,  always  a  scene  of  violence, 
and  inconsistent  with  all  civil  modesty,  twenty  Accoppiatori,  or 
associates,  with  authority  to  imborse  the  signori  from  time  to 
time,  and  to  create,  with  other  restless  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace,  the  principal  magistrates  ;  and  they  resolved,  that  Lorenzo 
di  Pierfrancesco  de'  Medici,  who  then  declared  himself  one  of 
the  inhabitants,  de'  popolani,1  though  under  age,  should  be  one 

arato  co'  fratelli  ribello,  posta  taglia  contro  le  loro  persone,  e  poscia  messo  a  sacco 
il  ricchissimo  loro  palagio. 

*  Nerli,  p.  63. 

1  This  translation  does  not  quite  give  the  sense  of  the  original.  He  had  been 
harshly  treated  by  his  cousin  whilst  in  authority,  and  returned  to  Florence  under 


108  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

of  the  twenty;  and  this  was  accomplished  by  their  extraordinary 
reputation  and  influence,  and  thus  he  was  made  the  head  of  the 
new  government ;  and  this  whole  revolution  changed  nothing 
but  the  head,  and  not  at  all  the  nature  of  the  government." 

It  was  in  this  convention,  which  Nerli  calls  a  parliament,  that 
those  elegant  speeches  which  Guicciardini*  has  preserved,  or 
composed,  one  for  Soderini  and  the  other  for  Vespucci,  are  sup 
posed  to  have  been  made ;  but  it  is  surprising  to  see  that  neither 
orator,  so  eloquent  and  able,  nor  yet  the  historian  who  so  elegantly 
reports  the  debate,  appears  to  have  once  thought  of  the  natural 
and  necessary  remedy.  One  is  for  a  government  simply  popular, 
and  the  other  for  a  form  simply  aristocratical ;  but  neither  thinks 
of  an  equal  mixture  of  the  three  forms,  nor  even  of  the  two ;  nor 
does  an  idea  occur  of  separating  the  legislative  from  the  executive 
power.  Soderini  admits  that,  "  among  all  writers  upon  govern 
ment,  praises  have  been  more  liberally  bestowed  upon  the  admi 
nistration  of  a  single  prince,  and  upon  that  of  a  few  of  the  best 
citizens,  than  upon  any  popular  government;"  but  he  thinks  that 
"  the  desire  of  liberty  is  so  natural  or  habitual  in  that  city,  and 
the  condition  of  the  citizens  so  proportioned  to  that  equality 
which  is  the  necessary  foundation  of  a  popular  government,  that 
it  ought,  without  any  doubt,  to  be  preferred  to  all  others."  He 
even  thinks  a  question  could  not  be  made  of  this,  "  as  in  all  their 
consultations  it  had  ever  been  determined,  with  universal  consent, 
that  the  city  should  be  governed  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  people.  But  the  diversity  of  opinions  arose  from  this,  that 
some  would  cheerfully  consent  in  the  regulation  of  the  convention 
to  that  form  of  a  republic  with  which  the  city  governed  itself 
before  her  liberty  was  oppressed  by  the  family  of  the  Medici ; 
others,  among  whom  he  reckons  himself,  judging  a  government 
so  ordered  to  have,  in  many  things,  rather  the  name  than  the 
effects'  of  a  popular  government,  and  terrified  with  the  accidents 
which  frequently  result  from  it,  desire  a  more  perfect  form,  which 
may  preserve  concord  and  security  to  the  citizens;  blessings 
which,  neither  from  reason  nor  experience,  can  be  expected  in 
this  city,  if  it  is  not  under  a  government  dependent  entirely  on 

the  amnesty  to  all  who  had  opposed  him.  In  order  to  avoid  the  odium  in  which 
the  family  name  was  held,  he  caused  it  to  be  changed  to  that  of  Popolani,  and 
altered  his  coat  of  arms. 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  ii.  p.  41,  Ven.  1574. 


FLORENCE.  109 

the  power  of  the  people.  This  must,  however,  be  well  ordered  by 
two  fundamental  regulations.  The  first  of  these  is,  that  all  the 
magistrates  and  officers,  both  in  the  city  and  all  its  dominions, 
shall  be  distributed,  from  time  to  time,  by  a  universal  council  of 
all  those  who,  according  to  our  laws,  are  qualified  for  a  partici 
pation  in  government ;  without  the  approbation  of  which  council 
new  laws  cannot  be  considered.  Hence,  it  not  being  in  the 
power  of  private  citizens,  nor  of  any  particular  conspiracy  or 
intrigue,  to  distribute  dignities  or  authority,  none  will  be  excluded 
from  them  by  the  passions  or  caprice  of  others,  but  they  shall  be 
bestowed  according  to  the  virtues  and  merits  of  men.  By  con 
sequence,  every  one  must  endeavor,  by  his  virtues,  good  manners, 
and  by  rendering  himself  agreeable  both  in  public  and  private 
life,  to  open  his  way  to  honors.  Every  one  must  abstain  from 
vices  and  injuries  to  others,  and,  in  one  word,  from  all  those 
things  which  are  odious  in  a  well-constituted  city.  It  will  not 
be  in  the  power  of  any  one,  nor  of  a  few,  by  new  laws,  or  by  the 
authority  of  a  magistrate,  to  introduce  another  government,  or  to 
pretend  to  alter  this,  but  by  the  resolution  of  the  universal 
council. 

"  The  second  fundamental  regulation  is  this ;  that  all  the  most 
important  deliberations,  as  those  of  peace  and  war,  the  examina 
tion  of  new  laws,  and  generally  all  those  things  which  are  neces 
sary  to  the  administration  of  such  a  city  and  dominion,  shall  be 
treated  by  magistrates  particularly  destined  to  this  service,  in  a 
select  council  of  the  most  experienced  and  prudent  citizens,  who 
shall  be  deputed  by  the  popular  council ;  for,  as  the  knowledge 
of  these  affairs  of  state  is  not  found  in  every  understanding,  pre 
cautions  should  be  taken  that  the  government  may  not  fall  into 
hands  incapable  of  conducting  it ;  and  the  celerity  and  secrecy 
which  are  often  indispensable,  cannot  be  consulted  or  preserved 
in  the  deliberations  of  a  multitude.  Neither  is  it  necessary  for 
the  maintenance  of  liberty,  that  such  things  should  be  treated  by 
large  numbers ;  for  liberty  remains  secure  at  all  times  when  the 
distribution  of  magistracies,  and  the  deliberations  on  new  laws, 
depend  on  universal  consent. 

"  These  two  points  being  secured,  the  government  will  be  truly 
popular,  the  liberty  of  the  city  well  founded,  and  a  laudable  and 
durable  form  of  a  republic  established." 

He  then  compares  his  project  with  the  plan  of  Venice, — to 

VOL.  v.  10 


110  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

which  it  has  not,  however,  the  smallest  resemblance,  —  and  pro 
ceeds  :  "  This  city  of  ours  has  never  enjoyed  a  government  like 
this,  and  therefore  our  public  affairs  have  been  constantly  exposed 
to  frequent  mutations ;  at  one  time  trampled  down  by  the  vio 
lence  of  tyranny;  at  another  torn  by  the  ambitious  and  avaricious 
dissensions  of  the  few;  now  shaken  by  the  licentious  fury  of  the 
multitude :  and  although  cities  are  built  for  no  end  but  the  tran 
quillity,*  security,  and  happy  life  of  the  inhabitants,  the  fruits  of 
our  government,  our  felicity,  our  repose,  have  been  the  continual 
confiscations  of  our  estates,  the  banishments  and  the  executions 
on  the  scaffold,  of  our  miserable  citizens." 

This  is  the  substance  of  Soderini's  oration,  in  which  he  is  fully 
sensible  of  the  tyranny  and  slavery  of  alternate  factions,  and  the 
consequent  miseries  with  which  the  history  of  Florence  is  filled; 
but,  instead  of  proposing  a  rational  remedy,  he  is  for  aggravating 
the  evil.  The  executive  power,  the  appointment  of  officers,  had 
been  the  cause  of  discord.  He  now  only  proposes  to  give  those 
appointments  to  the  multitude,  instead  of  a  senate ;  to  the  uni 
versal,  instead  of  the  particular  council ;  the  only  effect  of  which 
would  be,  that  more  heads  would  be  turned,  and  more  passions 
inflamed. 

The  oration  of  Soderini  was  answered  by  Vespucci,  a  famous 
lawyer,  and  a  man  of  singular  genius  and  address.  "  If,"  says 
he,  "  a  government,  instituted  in  the  manner  proposed  by  Sode 
rini,  most  excellent  citizens,  would  produce  such  desirable  fruits 
with  the  same  ease  that  they  may  be  described,  he  would  cer 
tainly  discover  a  most  corrupted  character  who  should  wish  any 
other  for  the  regulation  of  our  country.  He  would  be  a  most 
pernicious  citizen,  who  should  not  love,  without  reserve,  a  form 
of  republic,  in  which  virtue,  merit,  and  the  real  value  of  men, 
should  be  above  all  things  acknowledged  and  honored.  But  I 
confess  myself  ignorant  how  it  is  possible  to  hope  that  a  govern 
ment,  placed  absolutely  in  the  power  of  the  people,  can  be  pro 
ductive  of  such  mighty  blessings.  On  the  contrary,  I  well  know, 
what  reason  teaches,  experience  demonstrates,  and  the  authority 
of  the  greatest  lawgivers  confirms,  that,  in  so  great  a  multitude, 
there  can  never  be  found  such  prudence,  such  experience,  and 
such  order,  as  may  give  us  room  to  promise  ourselves  the 
wise  will  be  preferred  to  the  ignorant,  the  good  to  the  bad,  or 
men  of  experience  to  those  who  have  never  seen  a  public  trans- 


FLORENCE.  HI 

action.  For  as,  from  an  incapable  and  unskilful  judge,  it  is  not 
possible  to  hope  for  a  sagacious  sentence,  so,  from  a  people  im 
mersed  in  ignorance  and  involved  in  confusion,  we  cannot  expect, 
unless  by  accident,  prudent  deliberations  or  rational  elections. 
Can  we  believe  that  a  multitude,  inexpert,  unskilful,  compounded 
of  so  great  a  variety  of  geniuses,  conditions,  and  customs,  and 
wholly  devoted  to  their  private  affairs,  can  possibly  distinguish 
and  know  those  intricate  interests  and  duties  of  the  public,  which 
men  of  the  most  consummate  wisdom,  who  are  wholly  inatten 
tive  to  any  other  business,  are  often  with  great  difficulty  able  to 
discern  ?  Not  to  mention,  that  the  unbounded  esteem  which 
everyone  entertains  of  himself,  will  stimulate  them  all  to  become 
ambitious  of  honors,  it  will  never  be  satisfactory  to  men  in  a 
popular  government  to  enjoy  the  honest  fruits  of  liberty,  but  all 
will  aspire  to  the  highest  rank,  and  be  impatient  to  intermeddle 
in  deliberations  upon  affairs  of  the  most  importance  and  greatest 
difficulty.  For  among  us  there  is  less  than  in  any  other  city  in 
the  world  of  that  modesty  which  yields  the  precedence  to  him 
who  has  more  knowledge  or  more  merit.  Persuading  ourselves, 
as  we  do,  that,  in  reason  and  by  right,  we  ought  all  of  us  to  be 
equal  in  all  things,  the  places  of  virtue  and  merit,  if  left  in  the 
disposition  of  the  multitude,  will  be  confounded  ;  and  this  ambi 
tion,  being  diffused  through  the  majority,  will  designedly  bestow 
the  most  power  on  the  most  ignorant  and  the  least  meritorious ; 
because,  being  by  much  the  most  numerous,  they  will  have  the 
most  influence  in  a  state  so  constituted  that  opinions  in  it  are 
numbered  and  not  weighed.  What  certainty,  therefore,  can  you 
have  that,  although  they  may  be  satisfied  with  the  form  that  you 
introduce  at  present,  they  will  not  presently  disarrange  the  insti 
tutions  the  most  wisely  concerted,  by  their  novel  inventions  and 
imprudent  laws  ?  And  these  the  wisest  citizens  will  not  be  able 
to  resist.  These  things,  at  all  times  dangerous  in  such  a  govern 
ment,  will  be  much  more  so  at  present,  because  it  is  the  nature 
of  mankind,  when  they  fly  from  one  extreme,  in  which  they  have 
been  held  by  violence,  to  rush  with  greater  violence,  without 
stopping  at  the  mean,  to  the  other  extremity.  Thus,  he  who 
escapes  from  a  tyranny,  if  unrestrained,  precipitates  himself  into 
an  unbridled  licentiousness,  which  also  may  most  justly  be  called 
a  tyranny ;  for  a  people  is  exactly  like  a  tyrant,  when  they  give 
to  him  who  has  no  merit,  and  take  away  from  him  who  has 


112  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

much;  when  they  confound  all  gradations  and  distinctions  of 
persons ;  and  their  tyranny  is  perhaps  so  much  the  more  pestife 
rous,  as  ignorance,  which  has  no  weights,  nor  measures,  nor  laws, 
is  more  dangerous  even  than  malignity,  which  does  govern  itself 
by  some  rule,  restrain  itself  by  some  bridle,  and  satisfy  itself  with 
some  end.  .  .  . 

"  Has  this  city  ever  been  under  the  absolute  government  of  the 
people,  without  becoming  an  instant  prey  to  discord,  without 
being  shaken  to  its  foundation,  and  without  suffering  an  imme 
diate  revolution  in  the  state  ?  Why  are  not  our  liberties  secure 
under  the  government  proposed  in  this  parliament  ?  All  things 
are  referred  to  the  disposition  of  magistrates,  who  are  not  perpe 
tual,  but  are  frequently  changed ;  who  are  not  elected  by  a  few, 
but,  having  been  approved  by  many,  are  appointed,  according  to 
the  ancient  usage  of  the  city,  by  lot.  How  then  can  they  be 
appointed  by  factions,  or  by  the  will  of  particular  citizens  ?  We 
shall  have  a  much  greater  certainty  that  affairs  of  the  most  im 
portance  will  be  examined  and  directed  by  men  of  the  most  wis 
dom,  experience,  and  gravity,  who  will  govern  with  more  order, 
secrecy,  and  maturity  of  judgment,  than  it  is  possible  for  a  people, 
who  are  incapable  of  such  things,  to  possess ;  a  people,  who  are 
often,  when  there  is  little  occasion  for  it,  most  extravagantly 
splendid  and  expensive ;  and  oftener  still,  when  there  is  the  most 
urgent  necessity,  so  penurious  and  niggardly,  as  to  rush  upon  the 
greatest  dangers  and  expenses,  for  the  sake  of  saving  the  most 
trifling  sums." 

In  truth,  both  these  speeches,  with  all  their  eloquence,  were 
thrown  away.  Soderini  was  for  collecting  "all  authority  into 
one  centre,"  the  people ;  and  Vespucci  into  another,  the  senate. 
Neither  dared  propose  a  separation  of  the  executive  from  both, 
in  a  first  magistrate ;  and  without  that,  and  admitting  both  the 
senate  and  people  to  a  share,  there  could  be  no  peace  nor  harmony 
in  Florence.  The  question,  however,  was  not  decided  by  the 
logic  or  rhetoric  of  either.  Few  of  the  citizens  attended  the  con 
vention,  and  the  vote  would  have  been  for  the  aristocracy  of 
Vespucci,  if  another  orator  had  not  intervened. 

This  was  Girolamo  Savonarola,  the  prophet,  who  declared  that 
he  had  a  divine  revelation  from  heaven  in  favor  of  a  popular 
government,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  should  be  chosen  King  of 


FLORENCE.  113 

Florence,*  against  his  own  express  declaration,  that  his  kingdom 
was  not  of  this  world.  The  twenty  accoppiatori,  who  had  no 
head  to  keep  them  united,  necessarily  fell  into  a  variety  of  fac 
tions  and  divisions  among  themselves.  Perceiving  their  dissen 
sions,  the  other  citizens  in  general,  and  especially  all  those  of  the 
greatest  reputation,  who,  at  the  election  of  the  twenty,  had  not 
been  chosen  of  the  number,  began  to  take  courage,  and  raise  a 
cry  against  them  for  the  weakness  of  their  government;  and 
Savonarola  declared,  that  God  had  constituted  him  his  ambas 
sador  in  Florence,  with  full  power  and  express  orders  to  declare 
his  will,  that  Christ  should  be  king,  and  that  under  him  the  city 
should  be  governed  only  by  a  single  assembly  or  popular  council. 
The  multitude  believed  him,  and  in  1495  the  twenty  were  all 
obliged  to  resign,  and  give  place  to  the  greater  council  and  popu 
lar  government ;  f  and  a  new  palace  was  built  for  them,  with 
such  ardent  enthusiasm,  that  it  seemed  to  be  true,  what  Savona 
rola  declared,  that  the  angels  had  acted  as  masons  and  architects, 
that  the  work  might  be  the  sooner  finished. 

But  this  new  government  could  no  better  agree  than  the  accop- 
piatori,  and  for  the  same  reason.  The  new  great  council,  as  well 
as  the  whole  city,  soon  divided  into  three  parties.  The  greatest 
and  most  powerful  was  that  which  depended  upon  Fra  Girolamo, 
and  was  called  the  party  of  the  Frateschi,  and  consisted  of  those 
who  most  desired,  and  of  nearly  all  those  who  were  gratified 
with  the  latitude  of  the  popular  government.  The  second  party 
were  desirous  of  having  the  government  more  restrained,  and  in 
the  hands  of  a  smaller  number  of  the  principal  citizens ;  but  they 
were  still  desirous  of  liberty,  and,  as  well  as  the  Frateschi,  were 
in  opposition  to  the  party  of  the  Medici.  The  third  party  con 
sisted  of  those  who  wished  for  the  return  of  the  Medici,  and  the 
restoration  of  the  old  government.  The  views,  motives,  and 
manoeuvres  of  these  three  factions,  their  jealousies,  envies,  ambi 
tion,  and  various  schemes  to  supplant  each  other,  are  particularly 
described  by  Nerli,  and  in  so  natural  a  manner,  that  one  would 
think  his  history  written  expressly  to  expose  the  folly  of  a  govern 
ment  in  one  centre. 


*  Nerli,  pp.  64,  65._ 

f  H  consiglio  maggiore,  e  il  governo  popolare.  Nerli,  p.  66.  Che  gli  angioli 
in  quell'  opera  s'  esercitassero  in  luogo  de  muratori,  ed  operai,  perche  piu  presto 
fusse  finita. 

10*  H 


114  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

In  1495,  the  Florentines  met  with  fresh  and  dangerous  troubles 
from  other  quarters,  excited  by  the  potentates  of  the  league,  who 
encouraged  Peter  to  attempt  his  restoration  to  Florence.  Peter, 
like  all  other  exiles,  ready  to  embrace  every  offer,  imagined  his 
own  party  so  powerful,  and  the  new  government  so  odious,  espe 
cially  to  the  nobility,  that  he  could  not  fail  of  success.  He  made 
several  advances,  and  excited  some  exertions  among  his  friends ; 
but  being  disappointed  of  effectual  assistance,  he  at  length  gave 
up  the  enterprise. 

In  1497,  the  pope  and  the  Venetians  conceived  a  new  project 
for  separating  the  Florentines  from  the  French.  The  unhappy 
state  of  their  city,  in  which  there  were  such  great  divisions  among 
the  citizens,  owing  to  the  form  of  their  government,  gave  encour 
agement  to  any  power  that  wished  to  molest  them.  For,  says 
Guicciardini,  — l 

"  In  the  first  institution  of  the  popular  authority  in  Florence, 
there  had  not  been  introduced  a  mixture  of  those  temperaments 
which,  whilst  they  secured,  by  suitable  methods,  the  common 
liberty,  might  prevent  the  republic  from  being  thrown  into  confu 
sion  by  the  ignorance  and  licentiousness  of  the  multitude.  For 
this  reason,  the  citizens  of  better  rank,  meeting  with  less  respect 
than  their  condition  seemed  to  require,  the  people,  on  the  other 
hand,  being  jealous  of  their  ambition,  multitudes  of  mean  capa 
city  frequently  assisting  at  important  debates,  and  the  supreme 
magistracy,  to  whom  was  referred  the  decision  of  the  most  diffi 
cult  affairs,  changing  every  two  months,  much  confusion  was 
occasioned  in  the  government  of  the  republic.  To  this  must  be 
added  the  great  authority  of  Savonarola,  whose  followers  were 
more  numerous  than  those  of  the  contrary  opinion,  and  appeared 
to  have  much  the  greater  share  in  the  distribution  of  places  in 
the  magistracy,  and  of  public  honors ;  by  which  means  the  city 
becoming  manifestly  divided,  one  party  still  clashed  with  the 
other  in  all  the  public  deliberations,  as  it  always  happens  in 
divided  cities,  when  men  care  not  how  much  they  obstruct  the 
common  good,  in  the  desire  of  lowering  the  reputation  of  the 
adverse  party.  These  disorders  were  the  more  dangerous,  be 
cause,  besides  the  long  vexations  and  great  burdens  borne  by 
that  city,  there  was  that  year  a  very  great  scarcity;  whence  it 

i  Lib.  iii. 


FLORENCE.  115 

might  be  presumed  that  the  half-starved  populace  were  desirous 
of  a  change.  This  unhappy  disposition  gave  hopes  to  Peter, 
who  was  besides  incited  by  some  of  the  citizens." 

With  secret  assistance  from  the  Venetians,  and  in  various 
other  ways,  he  collected  together  a  military  force,  and  made  an 
attempt  upon  Florence ;  but,  having  neither  genius  nor  resources, 
he  failed.  His  partisans  committed  a  number  of  massacres  in 
some  of  the  neighboring  towns ;  but  his  plot  was  discovered,  and 
his  principal  friends  in  Florence,  after  full  proof  of  the  order  and 
management  of  the  conspiracy,  were  convicted  and  sentenced  to 
death.  By  virtue  of  a  law  that  was  made  when  the  popular 
government  was  established,  the  relations  of  the  persons  con 
demned  appealed  to  the  grand  council  of  the  people.  The  other 
party,  apprehending  that  compassion  for  their  rank,  age,  and 
numerous  relations,  might  prevail  on  the  affections  of  the  people, 
several  members  of  the  supreme  magistracy  were,  by  pressing 
importunities,  and  almost  by  force  and  menaces,  constrained  to 
consent  that,  notwithstanding  the  interposition  of  the  appeal, 
execution  should  be  done  the  same  night.  Of  what  avail  is  law 
in  such  a  government,  for  the  protection  of  life  or  security  of 
liberty?  The  most  zealous  sticklers  for  this  were  the  favorers  of 
Savonarola,  who  was  reproached  for  not  dissuading  his  followers 
from  the  violation  of  a  law  which,  but  a  few  years  before,  had 
been  proposed  by  himself,  as  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
liberty.  But  a  dominant  party,  when  there  are  but  two,  and  no 
third  power  to  balance  them,  is  never  long  restrained  by  law, 
morals,  or  decency. 

The  next  year,  1498,  Savonarola  himself  was  burnt,  not  for 
his  enthusiastic  impostures,  but  for  preaching  against  the  corrup 
tions  of  the  court  of  Rome,  under  that  hellish  monster  of  vice 
and  cruelty,  Alexander  VI.  This  would  not  have  been  remem 
bered  here,  if  politics  and  party,  rather  than  piety,  had  not  pro 
duced  this  event,  as  well  as  the  assassination  of  a  nobleman  of 
great  influence,  Francesco  Valori,  for  being  the  chief  patron  of 
Savonarola,  and  the  cause  that  the  appeal  to  the  popular  council 
had  not  been  admitted.  The  passions  of  parties,  their  hatred  and 
revenge,  as  well  as  their  ambition,  under  such  unbalanced  go 
vernments,  lay  hold  of  any  popular  prejudice,  most  frequently  of 
religious  zeal,  and  the  assistance  of  any  means,  even  the  friend 
ship  of  an  Alexander  and  a  Borgia,  to  aid  their  gratification. 


ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"But  scattering  the  ashes  of  this  martyr  in  the  Arno  did  not," 
says  Nerli,  "  quench  the  flames  of  discord,  nor  heal  the  divisions 
of  the  city.  The  people  remained  in  the  same  dissensions,  every 
one  quarrelling  for  his  faction  as  usual;*  and  fresh  disputes  and 
dissensions  arose ;  first,  between  Vitelli  and  the  Count  di  Mar- 
ciano ;  second,  by  reason  of  the  difference  between  the  King  of 
France  and  the  Duke  of  Milan ;  and,  third,  on  account  of  elec 
tions  and  the  magistracies." 

In  1500,  Caesar  Borgia,  f  having  already  subjected  a  great  part 
of  Romagna,  desirous  of  extending  his  dominions  in  Tuscany, 
and  having  good  intelligence  of  the  disposition  and  divisions  in 
the  city  of  Florence,  attempted  to  restore  the  Medici,  but  was 
diverted  from  the  enterprise  by  an  embassy  and  a  round  sum  of 
money.  In  1502,  a  rebellion,  excited  in  the  city  of  Arezzo,  opened 
fresh  divisions  in  Florence,  and  produced  new  attempts  to  reform 
the  government,  first,  by  giving  a  head  to  the  greater  council, 
and,  second,  by  constituting  a  gonfalonier  for  life.  Soderini, 
who  had  no  children,  had  great  qualities,  was  moderately  rich, 
of  a  family  of  great  reputation,  &c.,  and  had  rendered  important 
services  to  the  state  upon  many  occasions,  was  accordingly  elected. 
But  he  had  no  thoughts  of  changing  the  popular  government 
any  further,  and  was  soon  found  to  have  too  much  moderation 
for  some  of  his  friends.  Rucellai,  and  Lorenzo  di  Pierfrancesco 
de'  Medici,  and  some  other  citizens,  broke  off  from  him,  would 
not  attend  his  feasts,  and  grew  discontented. 

This  year  (1502)  died  the  pope  Alexander  VI.  Peter  de'  Me 
dici,  with  some  other  noblemen,  following  the  French  camp  after 
their  defeat  by  the  Spaniards  at  Gaeta,  entered  on  board  a  bark 
laden  with  artillery,  and  was  drowned  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
by  the  bark's  sinking  under  her  burden  in  a  contrary  wind.  But 
these  events,  so  fortunate  in  appearance  for  Florence,  could  not 
secure  her  tranquillity.  The  new  gonfalonier  for  life  had  many 
parties  in  fermentation  against  him ;  those  who  desired  a  more 
popular  government,  and  that  his  office  should  be  annual,  or  only 
for  three  months ;  those  of  his  own  party,  who  thought  him  not 
zealous  enough  to  make  the  government  more  aristocratical ;  and 
those  who  wished  the  restoration  of  the  Medici,  and  a  govern- 

*  Nerli,  p.  81.  Resto  il  popolo  nostro  nelle  medesime  dissension!,  e  travagliato 
dalle  sue  solite  sette,  come  si  fusse  prima. 

f  Nerli,  p.  88.     Muratori,  Annali,  torn.  x.  p.  1. 


FLORENCE.  117 

ment  completely  monarchical.  All  these  various  classes  of  citi 
zens  were  daily  observing  his  conduct,  criticizing  his  administra 
tion,  exaggerating  his  errors,  and  destroying  his  reputation  and 
popularity. 

In  1505,  Bartolomeo  d'  Alviano  invaded  the  country,*  with  a 
view  to  assist  the  Medici ;  but  he  was  routed  and  put  to  flight. 
From  so  great  a  victory  the  citizens  hoped  for  happiness,  quiet, 
and  repose ;  but  the  effects  of  it  were  quite  the  contrary,  and 
increased  the  secret  opposition  to  the  gonfalonier,  and  the  cabals 
of  the  discontented  citizens.  Bentivoglio,  ambitious  to  be  made 
captain-general,  and  Giacomini,  to  increase  his  popularity,  united 
in  the  desire  of  adding  the  conquest  of  Pisa  to  the  glory  they  had 
acquired  in  the  late  victory.  The  project  of  this  enterprise  occa 
sioned  great  confusions  in  the  city.  The  wisest  and  best  men 
declared  themselves  against  it ;  but  such  numbers  were  bent 
upon  it,  that  the  gonfalonier,  either  blinded  by  the  same  passions, 
arising  from  success,  or  wishing  to  counteract  his  adversaries,  or 
confiding  too  much  in  Bentivoglio,  fell  in  with  it.  After  tedious 
disputes,  angry  accusations,  and  mutual  reproaches  in  the  city, 
the  enterprise  was  resolved  upon  in  the  great  council,  with  loud 
huzzas  of  the  common  people.  A  great  expense  was  incurred  in 
ample  preparations,  but  the  end  was  as  unfortunate  as  the  wiser 
citizens  had  predicted;  the  two  principal  officers  destroyed  all 
the  credit  of  their  former  services,  and  Soderini,  the  gonfalonier, 
lost  much  of  his  reputation,  more  of  the  popular  confidence  and 
affection  ;  and,  in  proportion  as  these  fell,  those  who  had  opposed 
the  war  rose  in  the  public  esteem.  The  enemies  of  the  gonfa 
lonier  increased,  and  their  opposition,  headed  by  the  Salviati, 
grew  more  active  and  determined,  and  weakened  the  government 
to  such  a  degree,  that  it  was  alike  unable  to  execute  the  resolu 
tions,  when  taken  by  so  small  majorities,  to  command  the  soldiers, 
to  elect  the  council,  the  eight  commissaries  of  war,  or  ambassa 
dors,  or,  indeed,  to  resolve  upon  any  thing.  The  two  parties 

*  Nerli,  p.  95.  Muratori,  Annali,  torn.  x.  pp.  25,  26.  "  Erano  i  cittadini  quasi 
tutti  dichiarati  a  quale  delle  due  parti  piu  aderissero,  o  a  quella  del  gonfaloniere, 
o  a  quella  de'  Salviati,  di  maniera  che  nel  fare  de  parentadi,  o  nel  concedere  per 
mezzo  de'  magistrati  grazie,  o  benefizi,  o  nel  favorir  questo,  o  quell'  altro  cittadino, 
che  de'  magistrati  avesse  bisogno,  si  scoprivano  le  passioni,  e  gl'  interessi  del  gon 
faloniere,  o  de'  Salviati,  ed  in  somma  veniva  in  gara,  se  si  dovevano  pure  rimu- 
tare,  o  di  nuovo  eleggere  per  insino  a'  tavolaccini  del  palazzo,  e  in  ogni  minima 
cosa  si  scoprivano  gl'  interessi  delle  sette."  Nerli,  lib.  v.  p.  99. 


118  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

could  agree  upon  nothing ;  and  all  the  citizens  were  such  decided 
partisans,  either  of  the  gonfalonier  or  of  the  Salviati,  that  they 
would  not  intermarry,  or  even  give  a  vote  for  any  man  to  any 
office  or  public  favor,  who  was  not  of  their  side. 

In  the  grand  council,  and  in  the  city,  causes  enough  of  debate 
arose  from  day  to  day.  In  1506,  an  ordinance  for  regulating  the 
militia  in  the  country,  and  enrolling  every  man  from  fifteen  to 
fifty  years  of  age  under  captains  and  colors,  for  frequent  exercise 
in  the  military  art ;  the  demand  of  Alfonsina  Orsini,  the  widow 
of  Peter  de'  Medici,  of  the  restitution  of  her  dower,  confiscated 
with  the  estate  of  her  husband ;  the  marriage  of  her  daughter 
Clarissa  to  Philip  Strozzi ;  the  resignation  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Florence ;  the  appointment  of  a  successor ;  the  war  of  Pisa ;  in 
1508,  the  creation  of  commissaries ;  the  concession  of  Pisa  to  the 
King  of  France,  —  all  occasioned  such  struggles,  as  excited  at 
last  a  conspiracy  to  assassinate  the  gonfalonier,  for  the  purpose 
of  introducing  the  restoration  of  the  Medici.  This  plot  was  dis 
covered,  but  the  guilty  persons  had  such  parties  in  the  city,  and 
the  gonfalonier  was  become  so  unpopular,  that  only  the  slightest 
punishment  could  be  inflicted.  As,  in  such  a  state  of  parties, 
every  measure  of  government  is  opposed,  another  controversy 
arose  about  the  continuance  of  the  truce  with  Siena,  which  was 
at  last  agreed  to  upon  the  concession  of  Monte  Pulciano.  Various 
new  disputes  were  now  occasioned  by  the  new  council  in  Pisa. 
Finally,  the  city  found  that,  amidst  all  the  great  transactions  in 
Italy,  by  the  division  among  the  citizens,  and  their  continual 
opposition  to  each  other  in  every  reasonable  measure,  they  had 
not  only  very  ill  served  their  ally,  the  king,  but  had  given  great 
offence  to  the  pope. 

In  1512  was  the  battle  of  Ravenna ;  and  after  a  long  series  of 
wars,  in  which  the  emperor,  the  King  of  France,  the  King  of 
Spain,  the  Swiss,  the  pope,  the  Venetians,  and  all  other  states  in 
Italy  had  been  concerned,  a  congress  was  held  at  Mantua. 
"Giuliano  de'  Medici,  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  the  cardinal, 
here  solicited  an  enterprise  against  the  Florentines.  A  revolution, 
he  pretended,  might  be  easily  effected  in  that  state,  through  the 
divisions  of  the  citizens,  many  of  whom  wished  for  the  return  of 
his  family.  By  private  intelligence,  which  he  said  he  maintained 
with  several  noble  and  powerful  personages  in  the  city,  he  thought 
a  sudden  attack  might  easily  succeed;  and  the  consequence  would 


FLOKENCE.  119 

be,  the  taking  the  power  of  Florence  out  of  the  hands  of  one  who 
depended  on  the  King  of  France,  and  committing  it  to  persons 
who,  injured  and  abused  by  him,  would  acknowledge  no  alliance 
but  that  of  the  confederates.  He  was  seconded,  in  the  name  of 
the  pope,  by  Bernardo  de  Bibiena,  afterwards  cardinal,  who  had 
been  educated  in  the  family  of  Medici.  An  offer  was  secretly 
made  to  Soderini,  a  lawyer,  and  brother  of  the  gonfalonier,  who 
was  then  ambassador  from  Florence,  that  if  the  Florentines  would 
comply  with  the  demand  of  a  sum  of  money,  the  emperor  and 
King  of  Aragon  should  take  them  under  their  protection.  The 
ambassador  had  no  authority  to  conclude  any  agreement,  and 
could  only  make  his  report  to  the  republic.  It  was  believed  that, 
if  the  Florentines  had  laid  aside  their  niggardly  chaffering  about 
the  price,  they  might  have  diverted  the  storm ;  but,  either  through 
the  carelessness  or  the  malignity  of  men,  the  cause  of  that  city 
was  abandoned;  and  it  was  resolved  that  the  Spanish  army, 
attended  by  the  cardinal  and  Giuliano  de'  Medici,  should  march 
towards  Florence,  and  that  the  cardinal,  whom  the  pope  in  this 
expedition  had  declared  legate  of  Tuscany,  should  call  to  his 
assistance  the  soldiers  of  the  church,  and  those  of  the  neighboring 
towns,  whom  he  thought  fit  for  his  purpose.  The  viceroy,  at  the 
head  of  the  Spanish  army,  no  sooner  entered  the  Florentine 
dominions,  than  he  was  met  by  an  ambassador  of  the  republic, 
to  know  what  he  required  of  them.  The  viceroy  demanded,  in 
the  name  of  all  the  confederates,  that  the  gonfalonier  should  be 
deprived  of  his  office,  and  that  such  a  form  of  government  should 
be  established,  as  would  not  give  occasion  of  umbrage  to  the 
allied  powers ;  which  could  not  be  effected  without  restoring  the 
cardinal  and  Giuliano  de'  Medici  to  their  country. 

"  The  government  of  Florence  was  in  the  greatest  consterna 
tion,  from  the  divisions  among  the  citizens,  and  the  inclination 
of  multitudes  to  a  change.  A  message  arrived  from  the  viceroy, 
that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  league  to  make  any  altera 
tion  in  the  government  or  liberty  of  the  city,  but  only  to  remove 
the  gonfalonier  from  the  magistracy,  for  the  security  of  Italy, 
and  to  restore  the  Medici,  not  as  heads  of  the  government,  but 
as  private  persons,  to  live  in  all  things  under  subjection  to  the 
laws  and  to  the  magistracy.  Various  were  the  opinions  in  the 
city,  according  to  the  difference  of  men's  judgments,  passions, 
and  fears.  The  gonfalonier,  in  a  long  harangue  to  the  great 


120  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

council,*  offered  either  to  resign  his  envied  office,  or  to  defend  it 
at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  as  they  should  determine. 

"  If  the  Medici,"  says  he,  "  have  an  inclination  to  live  as  pri 
vate  citizens,  in  due  subjection  to  the  ordinances  of  the  magis 
trates,  and  of  your  laws,  their  restoration  would  be  laudable.  .  .  . 
But  let  not  any  one  imagine,  that  the  government  of  the  Medici 
will  be  exercised  in  the  same  manner  as  before  their  expulsion. 
The  form  and  foundation  of  things  are  changed ;  educated 
among  us,  almost  like  other  private  citizens,  possessed  of  vast 
estates  in  proportion  to  their  high  dignity,  and  offended  with 
none,  they  laid  the  foundation  of  their  greatness  in  the  affections 
of  the  citizens  ;  but  now,  bred  up  in  strange  customs,  and  hav 
ing  little  insight  into  our  civil  affairs,  resenting  their  exile,  very 
indigent,  affronted  by  so  many  families,  conscious  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  people  abhor  tyranny,  constrained  by  poverty 
and  suspicion,  they  will  have  no  consideration  for  any  citizen, 
but  will  engross  the  direction  of  all  affairs  to  themselves,  and 
establish  their  administration  on  fear  and  force,  not  on  love  and 
benevolence.  The  city  will  become  like  Bologna  under  the 
Bentivogli,  or  like  Siena  and  Perugia." 

"It  was,  with  wonderful  unanimity,  resolved  to  consent  to 
the  return  of  the  Medici  as  private  citizens,  but  to  refuse  the 
removal  of  the  gonfalonier,  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives  and  for 
tunes  ;  and  all  hands  were  set  to  work  to  prepare  for  war,  and 
the  defence  of  Prato." 

The  viceroy  laid  siege  to  Prato,  and  took  it  by  assault,  which 
was  followed  by  flight,  shrieks,  violence,  rapine,  blood,  and  slaugh 
ter.  This  sad  disaster  produced  a  vast  change  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  at  Florence ;  the  gonfalonier,  repenting  of  his  counsel, 
was  terrified,  and  became  deprived  at  once  of  all  esteem  and 
authority ;  others  grew  audacious ;  several  young  noblemen, 
with  one  of  the  family  of  Albizzi  at  their  head,  who  had  been 
in  secret  correspondence  with  the  Medici,  forced  the  gonfalonier 
out  of  the  public  palace,  and  the  magistrates  were  compelled  to 

*  "  Fece  al  popolo  una  orazione  bellissima,  che  a  que'  tempi,  e  in  quel  caso 
era  molto  a  proposito,  la  quale,  essendo  io  allora  in  quel  consiglio,  udii  quando  la 
feee,  ed  e  anco  inolto  elegantemente  scritta  da  Messer  Francesco  Guicciardini 
nellg,  sua  storia.  Narro  in  quella  il  gonfaloniere  tutte  le  sue  azioni  di  dieci  anni ; 
dipoi  offeree  se,  le  faculta,  e  la  propria  vita  per  beneficio  della  citta,  e  per  man- 
tenere  quel  libero  governo,  ed  alia  fine  si  rimesse  tutto  in  quel  popoio,  che  1'  ave- 
va  posto  in  quel  grado."  Nerli,  Lib.  v.  p.  108. 


FLORENCE. 

depose  him.*  He  fled  to  Ragusa.  Ambassadors  were  sent  to 
the  viceroy,  with  whom,  by  means  of  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici, 
they  easily  made  an  accommodation.  He  insisted  only  on  the 
restoration  of  his  family  and  their  adherents,  as  private  citizens, 
with  power  to  redeem,  within  a  certain  time,  the  confiscated 
estates,  indemnifying  those  to  whom  they  had  been  transferred 
for  the  purchase  and  improvements.  The  Florentines  were 
obliged  to  enter  into  the  league,  pay  to  the  emperor  forty  thou 
sand  ducats,  and  to  the  viceroy  eighty  thousand  for  his  army,  and 
twenty  thousand  for  himself.  They  made  a  league  besides,  with 
the  King  of  Aragon,  under  reciprocal  obligations  of  assisting 
each  other. 

It  is  astonishing  that  the  Florentines  should  not  yet  have  been 
able  to  see  the  causes  of  their  continual  misfortunes,  and  the 
necessity  of  different  orders,  and  a  balance  in  their  constitution. 
They  now  applied  themselves  to  reform  their  government,  to 
preserve  their  liberty,  and  the  popular  council,  their  "  all  autho 
rity  in  one  centre,"  their  right  constitution  of  a  commonwealth. 

"  To  this  end  they  enacted,  that  the  gonfalonier  should  no 
longer  be  elected  for  life,  but  only  for  a  year ;  that  to  the  council 
of  eighteen,  which  was  changed  every  six  months,  and  by 
whose  authority  the  most  weighty  affairs  were  determined, 
should  be  added,  for  life,  all  those  who  had  discharged  the  great 
offices  of  state,  at  home  or  abroad,  that  the  citizens  of  greatest 
quality  might  always  assist  at  their  debates.  At  home,  such  as 
had  been  gonfaloniers  of  justice,  or  of  the  number  of  the  ten  of 

*  Tal  fine  ebbe  il  supremo  magistrate  di  Piero  Soderini  esercitato  da  esso  nove 
anni,  e  dieci  mesi,  e  se  in  tale  amministrazione,  oltre  a  molte  sue  buone  opere, 
avesse  aggiunto  quel,  che  anche  molto  piu  importava  alia  citta,  e  a  lui,  1'aver  tenuto 
piu  conto,  che  non  fece,  di  chi  veramente  1'aveva  condotto  in  quel  grado,  giovava 
forse  piu  assai,  che  non  fece,  alia  citta,  a  suoi  cittadini,  a  se  medesimo,  ed  alia  sua 
casa,  e  sarebbesi  quel  governo  popolare  forse  anche  meglio  mantenuto,  come  si 
mantenne,  ne  primi  otto  anni,  che  si  resse  senza  capo  alcuno  dopo  il  1494,  che 
non  fece  poi  in  quei  dieci,  che  lo  resse  Piero  Soderini.  E  se  quel  suo  governo 
di  nove  anni  e  dieci  mesi  fu,  ed  &  ancora  tanto  lodato,  nacque  da  quel  buono 
ordine,  che  si  tenne  piu  nello  splendere,  e  nello  stare  meglio  ordinata  la  citta, 
che  in  quelli  primi  otto  anni  non  si  fece,  e  dal  considerarlo  piu  da  quello,  che 
pareva  in  apparenza,  che  da  quello,  che  era  in  fatti,  ed  in  somma  il  gonfaloniere 
non  seppe  mai  esser  principe  ne  cattivo,  ne  buono,  e  credette  troppo  colla  pazi- 
enza,  godendo,  come  si  dice,  il  benefizio  del  tempo,  superare  tutte  le  difficulta, 
che  se  gli  opponevano,  e  non  bene  avverti,  come  debbono  fare  i  principi  savi,  e  i 
buoni  capi,  e  governatori  di  republica,  che  sempre,  e  ad  ogni  cosa  la  pazienza  non 
giova,  e  che  il  tempo  a  lungo  andare  puo  arrecare  cosi  male,  come  bene.  Nerli, 
pp.  109,  110. 

VOL.  V.  11 


122  FLORENCE. 

the  balia,  a  magistracy  of  great  authority  in  that  republic  ;  abroad, 
all,  who  by  election  of  the  council  of  eighty  had  been  sent  am 
bassadors  to  princes,  or  had  been  commissaries-general  in  war. 
In  all  other  points  the  laws  remained  without  alteration.  Ridolfi, 
a  noble  citizen,  was  elected  gonfalonier  for  the  first  year ;  the 
people,  as  usual  in  troublesome  times,  not  paying  so  much 
regard  to  those  who  were  most  acceptable  to  them  for  popular 
arts,  as  to  a  person  who,  by  his  great  authority  in  the  city, 
especially  with  the  nobility,  and  by  his  own  extraordinary  talents, 
was  best  capable  of  establishing  the  tottering  commonwealth. 

"  But  things  were  now  gone  too  far,  and  the  enemies  of  pub 
lic  liberty  were  become  too  powerful.  A  suspected  army  was 
in  the  country,  and  the  most  audacious  youth  in  the  city  were 
desirous  of  oppressing  liberty.  With  them  concurred  in  thought 
and  deed,  though  in  word  he  pretended  the  contrary,  the  Cardi 
nal  de'  Medici ;  for  the  restoration  of  his  family  as  private  citi 
zens  could  not  have  been  thought  from  the  beginning  a  reward 
worthy  of  so  great  fatigues  and  dangers.  But  now  he  con 
sidered  that  they  must  be  universally  detested  by  the  people, 
from  a  suspicion  that  they  would  be  continually  exciting  con 
spiracies  against  their  liberty,  and  from  the  indignation  con 
ceived  against  the  family  for  conducting  the  Spanish  army 
against  their  country,  and  being  the  cause  of  the  barbarous 
sackage  of  Prato.  The  cardinal  was  stimulated  too  by  those 
who  had  before  conspired  with  him,  and  had  no  honorable  sta 
tion  in  the  new  commonwealth.  He  therefore  obtained  the 
consent  of  the  viceroy,  unexpectedly  entered  Florence,  and 
repaired  to  the  houses  of  the  Medici  with  a  number  of  Italian 
officers  and  soldiers,  the  magistrates  not  daring  to  forbid  their 
entrance  on  account  of  the  neighborhood  of  the  Spanish  army. 
The  next  day  a  great  number  of  citizens  being  assembled  in 
council  in  the  palace,  and  Giuliano  de'  Medici  among  the  rest, 
the  soldiers  suddenly  forced  the  gate,  and  rushing  up  stairs  took 
possession  of  the  palace.  The  gonfalonier  and  the  magistrates 
were  forced  to  submit  to  the  will  of  a  man  whose  arms  were 
more  powerful  than  their  unarmed  reverence,  and  at  the  motion 
of  Giuliano,  they  called,  by  sound  of  the  bell,  an  assembly  of 
the  people  in  the  square  of  the  palace.  Here  those  who  met, 
finding  themselves  surrounded  by  armed  soldiers,  and  the  youth 
of  the  city  in  arms  for  the  Medici,  consented  that  fifty  citizens, 


FLORENCE.  123 

nominated  with  the  approbation  of  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici, 
should  be  invested  with  the  whole  sovereign  power  of  the  peo 
ple,  which  the  Florentines  call  a  balia.  The  government  was 
reduced  to  that  form  which  subsisted  before  1494 ;  a  guard  was 
stationed  at  the  palace,  and  the  Medici  resumed  their  former 
grandeur,  but  governed  more  imperiously  and  with  more  abso 
lute  authority  than  their  father  Peter  had  done.  After  this 
manner  was  the  liberty  of  the  Florentines  oppressed  by  arms, 
being  reduced  to  this  condition  by  the  divisions  among  the 
citizens."  l 

"  On  the  first  of  September,  1512,  the  new  signori,  without 
any  gonfalonier  or  supreme  magistrate,  united  with  Giuliaoo  de' 
Medici  and  the  principal  citizens  of  Florence,  and  especially 
with  those  who,  having  been  in  opposition  to  Soderini,  or  being 
relations  or  declared  friends  of  the  Medici,  were  the  most  in 
their  confidence,  to  give  orders  for  a  new  reformation  of  the  city. 
It  was  thereupon  ordained,  by  an  intrigue  of  the  signori,  that  a 
cabal  of  about  twenty  citizens  should  determine  among  them 
selves  the  mode  of  reformation  in  the  state.  But  even  in  this 
junto  many  contests  arose,  and  various  projects  were  proposed. 
There  were  among  them  some  who,  without  considering  the 
forcible  manner  in  which  the  Medici  had  returned,  wished  to 
reestablish  the  popular  government,  and  maintain,  by  all  means, 
the  grand  council,  at  least  in  part,  in  its  authority,  and  in  order 
to  give  the  government  a  head,  would  constitute  a  gonfalonier 
for  one  year,  or  two  at  most ;  they  further  desired,  in  order  to 
give  a  greater  perfection  to  the  government,  to  make  an  addition 
of  select  citizens  to  the  council  of  eighty,  who  should  be  as  a 
senate  of  the  best  men  for  life,  with  a  certain  authority  and  full 
power,  and  with  certain  particular  orders  and  prescribed  forms. 
Of  this  opinion  were  the  greater  part  of  those  citizens  who  had 
been  in  opposition  to  Soderini,  not  so  much  from  attachment  to 

l  "  Telle  fut  1'etroite  et  honteuse  oligarchic  qui  fut  substitute  au  gouverne- 
ment  libre  et  constitutionel  de  la  republique.  Le  parlement  sanctionna  la  revo 
lution  ;  car  les  seuls  citoyens  determines  a  tout  approuver  se  rendirent  sur  la 
place  publique,  au  milieu  des  soldats  qui  faisoient  violence  a  leur  patrie.  La 
nouvelle  balie  pronon^a  peu  de  condamnations,  mais  elle  abolit  la  plupart  des 
magistratures  protectrices  de  la  liberte  ;  de  plus,  elle  licencia,  des  le  18  Septem- 
bre,  1'ordonnance  ou  la  milice  Florentine,  et  elle  fit  desarmer  le  peuple.  Un 
gouvernement  que  les  etrangers  ont  etabli  par  la  violence  doit  craindre  toute 
force  nationale  ;  et  pour  se  maintenir,  il  doit  desarmer  et  avilir  la  nation  qui  lui 
est  soumise."  Sismondi,  Rep.  Italiennes,  vol.  xiv.  p.  268. 


124  ON  GOVEKNMENT. 

the  Medici  as  for  other  reasons  The  Medici  and  their  most 
avowed  partisans,  and  chiefly  those  who,  in  their  opposition  to 
Soderini,  had  discovered  themselves  the  most  averse  to  the  popu 
lar  state,  because  they  did  not  think  they  could  obtain  pardon 
from  the  people,  could  scarcely  hope  to  live  in  freedom,  and 
were  sure  to  have  no  share  in  the  government,  would,  for  their 
greater  security,  restrain  the  state  to  its  ancient  form  and 
remodel  it  by  a  convention,  not  believing  that  they  could 
accomplish  it  in  the  ordinary  way,  as  it  had  been  restrained  in 
the  house  of  Medici  before  the  year  1494.  After  many  accom 
modating  manoeuvres  of  Giuliano  de'  Medici,  by  his  great 
facility  and  kindness  with  those  who  desired  a  large  govern 
ment,  and  to  preserve  the  grand  council,  it  was  concluded  to 
pass  a  law  in  this  cabal  for  the  reformation  of  this  government, 
and  it  was  accordingly  proposed  in  the  grand  council,  and 
received  with  great  applause.  For  everybody  was  so  dispirited 
and  so  terrified  with  the  thoughts  of  a  convention  of  the  people, 
which  was  much  talked  of,  and  greatly  desired  by  those  who 
wished  to  restrain  the  state  into  an  aristocracy,  that  this  new 
law  of  reform  was  highly  relished,  as  it  lessened  the  authority 
both  of  the  people  and  the  grand  council. 

"  By  the  new  law  it  was  ordained,  that,  for  the  future,  the 
gonfalonier  should  be  created  by  the  grand  council  for  one  year, 
should  be  disqualified  from  holding  the  office  for  five  subsequent 
years,  and  that  all  his  connections  should  be  excluded  during 
his  year  from  holding  any  of  the  greater  magistracies,  such  as 
those  of  the  signori,  the  sixteen  gonfaloniers  of  the  companies 
of  the  people,  and  the  twelve  buoni  homini.  The  chief  magistrate 
was  also  prohibited  from  holding  a  negotiation  or  correspond 
ence  with  any  other  prince,  republic,  or  lord,  in  or  out  of  Italy ; 
from  opening  any  letters  addressed  to  the  signori  or  any  other 
magistrate,  without  the  presence  of  two  thirds  of  the  signori  his 
companions ;  or  even  any  letter  addressed  to  him  alone,  without 
the  presence  of  two  at  least  of  the  signori,  who,  under  the  pains 
of  perjury,  were  obliged  to  show  such  letters  to  the  other  signori, 
if  they  found  any  thing  in  them  relative  to  the  state  or  public 
affairs.  The  ladies,  too,  and  families  of  the  gonfaloniers  were 
prohibited  from  inhabiting  the  palace,  and  from  sending  any  let 
ters  or  messages  to  any  officer  or  magistrate  abroad  or  at  home 
and  the  gonfalonier  was  assigned  for  his  whole  salary  four  hun- 


FLORENCE.  125 

dred  golden  florins  a  year.  As  to  the  mode  of  electing  the 
senate,  surplusage,  or  optimates  before  mentioned,  such  disposi 
tion  was  made  by  this  new  law  for  the  reformation  of  the 
government,  that  for  the  future,  at  all  administrations,  delibera 
tions,  and  elections  of  magistrates,  usually  made  in  the  council 
of  eighty,  all  the  then  present  signori,  and  all  those  citizens  who 
at  any  time  had  been  gonfaloniers  of  justice,  all  those  who  had 
sat  among  the  ten  magistrates  for  war,  and  all  who  at  any  time 
had  been  elected  ambassadors  in  the  council  of  eighty  to  any 
prince  or  lord  in  or  out  of  Italy,  should  assist  during  their 
lives.  And  to  provide  for  those  families  or  societies  in  which 
there  were  not  men  of  any  such  description,  it  was  decreed  by 
the  law  that  such  families  might  claim  as  far  as  two  members, 
if  they  had  the  number  of  two,  or,  if  they  had  not,  one,  with  the 
ordinary  qualifications,  but  no  more  ;  and  that  such  supplement 
ary  additions  from  the  families  should  not  amount  to  more  than 
fifty  in  the  whole,  to  be  elected  in  the  council  of  eighty,  with  its 
new  addition,  giving  of  these  fifty  a  convenient  part  to  the  lesser 
arts,  according  to  the  order  at  that  time  in  the  city.  And 
because  Giuliano  de'  Medici  and  some  of  his  declared  friends 
were  incapable,  either  by  minority  of  age,  or  by  having  in  their 
families  two  or  more  who  came  within  the  ordinary  rules,  that 
they  might  not  be  excluded,  it  was  provided  by  the  law,  that 
by  a  resolution  of  the  signori  alone,  eleven  more,  besides  the 
fifty,  might  be  elected,  eight  of  whom  might  be  under  the  age 
prescribed  of  forty  years.  In  this  manner  was  the  council  of 
eighty,  with  its  addition,  to  be  constituted,  and  in  it  from  time 
to  time  were  to  be  created  the  signori,  the  ten  magistrates  for 
war,  and  the  eight  for  the  guard,  in  such  manner  as  those 
magistrates  were  wont  to  be  elected  in  the  greater  council, 
observing  the  order  of  elections  in  the  quarters  of  the  arts,  and 
all  the  forms  which  had  been  observed  in  electing  such  magis 
trates  in  the  greater  council.  And  to  facilitate  still  further  the 
public  business,  and  to  take  away  still  more  effectually,  both 
from  the  people  and  the  great  council,  the  opportunity  and  the 
power  of  disarranging  the  public  councils  by  withholding  sup 
plies  of  money,  admonished  by  many  past  examples,  the  law 
provided,  that  such  provisions  of  money  and  impositions  of 
taxes  for  the  public  occasions  should  be  passed,  in  the  first  place, 
in  the  council  of  eighty,  by  two  thirds  of  the  black  votes  01 
11* 


126  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

balls,  according  to  the  forms  of  balloting,  and  be  approved  in 
the  greater  council  by  a  division  of  one  half  of  the  black  votes, 
and  one  more.  The  law  was  passed,  and  the  same  day,  in 
October,  1513,  and  in  the  same  council,  they  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  new  gonfalonier.  At  the  first  ballot  there  was  no 
choice,  but  at  the  second  Giovan  Batista  Ridolfi  was  elected, 
and,  in  the  presence  of  the  council,  took  upon  him,  with  the 
other  signori,  the  supreme  magistracy."  * 

This  plan  of  reformation,  however,  had  greatly  terrified  the 
partisans  and  most  declared  friends  of  the  Medici,  as  it  appeared 
to  them  they  should  be  in  great  danger,  when  an  accommoda 
tion  should  be  made  with  the  league,  and  the  Spanish  army 
should  be  marched  out  of  the  dominions,  of  being  again  banished 
from  Florence,  to  their  total  ruin,  that  of  the  new  constitution, 
and  the  whole  house  of  Medici ;  and  in  this  apprehension  they 
were  well  grounded,  for  although  there  was  in  the  new  plan  an 
attempt  at  three  natural  branches,  yet  the  executive  power  and 
the  power  of  the  purse  were  both  left  in  the  hands  of  the  aristo 
cracy,  which  would  have  instantly  produced  a  division  both 
among  nobles  and  people,  and  the  destruction  of  the  house  of 
Medici,  as  well  as  of  the  feeble  popular  branch  of  the  constitu 
tion.  Here  was  the  best  possible  opportunity  for  introducing 
the  most  perfect  form,  by  giving  the  executive  power  to  one  of 
the  Medici,  the  power  of  the  purse  to  the  people,  and  the  legis- 

*  In  questo  tempo,  per  ordine  de'  vincitori,  fu  fatto  menzione  nel  libro 
publico,  chiamato  il  priorista,  del  parlamento  fatto,  e  de'  Medici  restituiti  alia 
patria,  a  piede  di  quel  priorato,  ch'  era  entrato  in  ufficio  a  di  primo  di  Settembre 
1512,  essendo  gontaloniere  di  Giustizia  Giovambatista  Ridolphi,  nel  qual  prio 
rista,  si  notano  tutti  i  signori  priori,  che  alia  giornata  si  fanno,  et  aggiunto  a  cio 
come  la  nobilta  si  era  vindicata,  e  ridotta  in  liberta,  e  riformato,  e  stabilito  il 
governo  della  citta,  secondo  la  volonta  de  gli  ottimati,  e  patrizii.  La  quale  dis- 
tinzione  di  nobilta,  ed  ignobilta,  confesso  io  ingenuamente  non  haver  mai  saputo 
fare,  ancorache  io  sia  nato,  et  allevato  nella  medesima  patria.  Ma  la  lezzione 
delle  presenti  memorie  fara  cognoscere  colle  spesse  nmtazioni  d'  animi,  e  di  pen- 
sieri,  e  delle  opere,  quale  sia  stata  sempre  la  diversita,  e  la  contrarieta  de  gli 
humori  de'  nostri  cittadini.  Conciosiacosache  io  habbia  veduto  i  figliuoli  dis- 
cordare  da  padri  proprii,  ed  i  fratelli  da  i  medesimi  fratelli  nelT  azzioni  di  questa 
stolta  favola  del  mondo,  secondoche  ciascuno  6  stato  vinto,  e  traportato  dalP 
empito  de'  proprii  appetiti.  Nardi,  lib.  vi.  p.  266. 

"  Jamais  je  n'ai  pu  comprendre,  ce  que  c'est  que  la  noblesse.  Qu'est-ce 
'que  c'est  que  la  noblesse  ?  "  said  one  of  the  first  duchesses  in  France.  "  Ah, 
madame,  c'est  un  droit  divin,"  said  a  gentleman  in  company.  "  Oui,  tout  comme 
la  royaute ;  tout  de  meme,  je  vous  comprend  bien,"  replied  the  lady,  who  had 
too  much  sense  to  pique  herself  on  her  divinity,  or  to  believe  a  syllable  of  the 
matter. 


FLORENCE.  127 

lative  power  to  both,  together  with  the  nobility  ;  but  either  no 
man  understood  the  subject,  or  too  much  ambition  in  the 
Medici,  too  much  pride  in  the  nobility,  too  many  prejudices  in 
the  people,  or  all  three  together,  prevented  it. 

The  election  too  of  Ridolfi,  who  was  thought  to  be,  as  indeed 
ha  was,  a  spirited  man,  of  a  celebrated  house,  most  illustrious 
parentage,  and  of  great  reputation,  increased  their  terror,  espe 
cially  as,  in  the  deliberations  on  the  new  reformation,  he  had 
discovered  himself  much  in  favor  of  a  popular  life.  He  had  been 
ordinarily  conspicuous  in  the  faction  of  Frateschi,  among  the 
first  of  whom  he  had  been  incorporated,  after  Valori,  and  had, 
in  all  times,  conjunctures,  and  circumstances,  favored  that  party 
which  was  ever  in  opposition  to  the  house  of  Medici,  as  is  mani 
fest  to  any  one  who  has  a  knowledge  of  those  times.  Whereupon 
many  of  the  most  open  friends  of  the  Medici,  and  those  who 
most  dreaded  a  popular  government,  entered  into  close  concert 
with  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  the 
errors  which  Giuliano,  his  brother,  by  his  too  great  facility,  had 
suffered  to  slide  in. 

"  It  was  not  difficult  to  dispose  the  cardinal  to  this,  as  they 
found  him,  since  the  late  reformation,  under  the  same  apprehen 
sions,  and  in  the  same  disposition  with  themselves ;  neither  him 
self,  nor  Messer  Giulio,  prior  of  Capua,  his  cousin  and  a  natural 
son  remaining  of  Giuliano  who  died  in  1478  by  the  conspiracy 
of  the  Pazzi,  judging  it  possible  securely  to  continue  in  Florence, 
if  the  government  remained  in  that  manner  in  the  hands  of  the 
people,  and  at  the  free  discretion  of  the  citizens.  Wherefore  the 
cardinal  came  sometimes  into  the  city,  for  he  had  resided  in  Prato 
when  the  reformation  of  the  state  was  made  in  Florence,  and 
took  lodgings  in  St.  Antonio  del  Vescovo,  a  place  near  the  city, 
where  he  was  visited  by  a  multitude  of  the  citizens,  under  various 
pretences.  There,  discoursing  with  all  concerning  the  condition 
of  affairs  as  they  happened,  he  began  with  great  address  to 
represent  to  some  that  it  was  necessary  to  think  of  a  good 
method  for  securing  the  state  and  his  house ;  dwelling  only  upon 
general  observations,  and  not  descending  to  any  particulars  with 
those  whom  he  believed  to  be  desirous  of  a  popular  government; 
but  consulting  with  his  more  confidential  friends,  and  with  those 
whom  he  knew  to  be  discontented  with  the  new  regulation  of 
the  government.  At  last,  he  opened  himself  to  a  few,  showing 


128  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  necessity,  of  a  convention  and  a  balia  to  a  small  number  of 
citizens  in  whom  they  could  confide,  who  might  contract  the 
state  to  the  form  in  which  it  stood  before  1494  in  the  hands  of 
the  family  of  Medici.  After  these  practices  held  at  St.  Antonio, 
the  cardinal  came  to  Florence,  resolved  to  call  a  convention  and 
contract  the  state ;  then  those  citizens,  fitly  called  the  blind,  who 
had  been  so  opposed  to  Soderini,  began  to  see,  when  it  was  too 
late  and  they  had  no  longer  power  to  provide  a  remedy,  that 
danger  now  at  hand,  which  they  had  not  been  able  to  discern 
when  at  a  distance. 

"  On  the  16th  of  September,  1513,  the  convention  was  assem 
bled,  the  Medici  and  their  friends  in  arms  having  seized  the 
palace,  which  had  been  left  without  a  guard,  because  Kidolfi, 
when  he  entered  on  his  office  of  gonfalonier,  either  from  a  want 
of  jealousy  of  the  Medici  and  the  viceroy,  who  was  yet  with  his 
army  at  Prato,  or  for  some  other  reason,  not  only  had  not  armed 
the  palace,  as,  in  order  to  establish  the  new  government,  it  was 
necessary  to  do,  but  had  caused  it  to  be  disarmed  of  the  few 
guards  which  had  been  stationed  there  by  the  magistrates  after 
the  privation  and  departure  of  Soderini ;  wherefore  it  was  easy 
for  the  Medici  and  their  partisans  to  seize  it.  The  signori  and 
the  gonfalonier,  and  many  other  citizens,  seeing  the  palace  taken, 
and  the  absolute  determination  of  the  Medici  and  their  armed 
followers  to  contract  the  state,  and  that  they  could  no  longer 
support  the  popular  government,  yielded  to  Giuliano  de'  Medici, 
who  was  in  council,  and  had  orders  from  the  cardinal  what  to 
do.  The  people  were  accordingly  called  together  in  convention, 
according  to  the  ancient  custom  of  their  parliaments,  in  the 
piazza;  the  signori  mounted  the  rostrum,  and  a  balia  was 
created,  that  is,  full  power  was  given  to  fifty-five  citizens  for  one 
year,  with  the  faculty  of  prolonging  it  beyond  that  period 
according  to  circumstances,  for  the  convenience  and  support  of 
the  state  and  the  gpvernment,  and  with  the  faculty,  moreover,  of 

sociating  to  themselves  in  the  balia  such  other  citizens  as  might 
be  ti  >ught  useful  to  the  state." 

The  first  thing  resolved  on  was  to  add  eleven  members  to  the 

number,  making  in  ibe  whole  sixty-six,  whose  names  Nerli*  has 

*preserved.     The  next  was  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  league, 

*  Nerli,  pp.  116-118. 


FLORENCE.  129 

and  to  pay  well  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Spanish  army  to 
march  out  of  Prato  and  the  Florentine  dominions.  An  ambas 
sador  was  sent  to  accompany  the  viceroy  of  Spain,  and  another, 
the  locum  tenens  of  Maximilian  the  emperor.  A  strong  guard 
was  placed  in  the  palace ;  Ridolfi  renounced  his  office  of  gonfa 
lonier  ;  all  the  members  of  the  family  of  Soderini  were  taken  up 
and  dispersed  about  in  different  confinements.  A  plan  was  esta 
blished  for  the  appointment  of  all  officers,  and  the  sum  total  of 
power  was  lodged  in  Giuliano  de'  Medici,  who,  however,  was  to 
consult  with  the  cardinal,  with  Messer  Giulio,  with  Lorenzo  their 
nephew,  the  son  who  remained  of  Piero  di  Lorenzo  de'  Medici ; 
but  when  the  new  distribution  of  offices  took  place,  fresh  divi 
sions  and  dissensions  arose,  and  secret  plots  were  discovered, 
whose  object  was  nothing  less  than  the  assassination  of  all  the 
Medici.  Among  the  conspirators  were  many  powerful  citizens. 
The  chiefs  of  the  party  were  beheaded,  and  the  rest  severely 
punished. 

"At  length  the  pope,  Julius  II.,  died,  and  the  cardinals  in 
conclave,*  on  the  seventh  day,  unanimously  elected  Giovanni, 
Cardinal  de'  Medici,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Leo  X.,  aged 
thirty-seven.  This  election  gave  great  satisfaction  to  all  Christ 
endom  ;  all  men  expecting,  from  the  recollection  of  his  father's 
great  merit,  and  from  the  fame  of  his  own  liberality,  benevo 
lence,  charity,  and  irreproachable  morals,"  (so  says  the  histo 
rian,  but  his  actions  discover  an  ambition 'too  powerful  for 
his  virtue,)  "  that  Leo  would  prove  an  excellent  pontiff,  and, 
from  the  example  of  his  ancestors,  a  lover  of  men  of  genius  and 
learning.  His  first  transaction  was  his  coronation,  which  was 
performed  with  so  pompous  an  appearance  of  his  family  and 
all  the  prelates  and  nobles  from  all  parts,  and  so  great  a  con 
course  of  the  Roman  people,  that  Rome  had  never  seen  so 
proud  a  day  since  the  inundations  of  the  barbarians ;  the  stand 
ard  of  the  church  was  carried  by  Alfonzo  d'  Este ;  that  of  the 
^eligious  order  of  Rhodes  by  Giulio  de'  Medici,  all  in  armor,  and 
mounted  on  a  noble  courser,  for  he  was  by  nature  inclined  to 
arms,  though  his  destiny  drew  him  to  the  church.  Such  magni 
ficence  confirmed  the  vulgar  in  their  expectations  of  happiness 
from  this  pontificate,  which  was  likely  to  abound  in  liberality 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  xi.     Nerli,  lib.  vi.  p.  124. 
I 


130  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

and  splendor,  as  the  expenses  of  that  day  amounted  to  a  hun 
dred  thousand  ducats  ;  but  men  of  better  judgment  were  of 
opinion  that  so  much  pomp  neither  became  a  pope,  nor  was 
suitable  to  the  times,  which  required  more  gravity,  simplicity, 
and  moderation. 

"  This  exaltation  of  Giovanni  occasioned  great  rejoicings  in 
Florence,*  for  both  the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  family  were 
pleased,  though  for  different  reasons  ;  the  former  from  the  hope 
of  benefits  and  advantages,  and  the  latter  from  the  expectation 
of  security,  and  the  universal  tranquillity  of  the  city,  which  they 
thought  would  succeed.  There  remained,  however,  as  may  well 
be  imagined,  a  secret  discontent  in  the  hearts  of  the  wise,  who 
could  foresee  at  a  distance  that  so  much  grandeur  in  one  family, 
who  for  sixty  years  had  held  in  their  hands  the  supreme  autho 
rity  of  the  government,  might  in  time  be  the  means  of  their 
return,  and  enable  them  to  change  the  state  from  a  republic  to 
an  absolute  principality. 

"  Upon  this  glorious  occasion,  Valori,  Folchi,  Nicholas  Machi- 
avel,  and  all  the  others  who,  on  account  of  the  late  conspiracy, 
had  been  hitherto  imprisoned,  were  liberated  from  the  tower  of 
Volterra ;  a  conspiracy  which,  if  no  further  attempts  had  been 
made,  and  the  two  who  had  been  beheaded  could  have  been 
restored  to  life,  would  now  have  been  wholly  forgotten.  The 
Soderini  too  were  all  set  at  liberty,  because  the  cardinal  of  that 
family  had  concurred  with  his  vote  in  the  creation  of  the  pope. 
Cardinal  Soderini  had  been  gained  over  to  this  election  by  a 
promise  of  the  liberation  of  his  relations,  and  that  Lorenzo  di 
Piero  de'  Medici  should  marry  his  niece,  the  daughter  of  his 
brother  Giovanvetterio  ;  but  this  alliance  never  took  effect, 
because  Alfonsina,  mother  of  Lorenzo,  would  never  consent  to 
it.  To  compensate  for  this  disappointment,  the  pope  proposed 
that  the  cardinal's  niece  should  be  married  to  Luigi  Ridolfi,  his 
nephew  by  a  sister ;  and  the  cardinal  at  first  seemed  satisfied 
with  the  exchange,  but  it  afterwards  appeared  that  he  took  it 
very  ill. 

"  A  splendid  embassy  of  twelve  honorable  and  noble  citizens 
was  now  sent  to  the  new  pope  from  the  city  of  Florence.  In  all 
this  grandeur  of  the  house,  Giuliano,  Lorenzo,  and  Giulio  de' 

*  Nerli,  p.  124. 


FLORENCE.  131 

Medici  in  a  few  days  appeared  at  Rome  to  consult  with  the 
pope  concerning  several  of  their  affairs,  and  the  division  of  their 
greatness  among  them  ;  it  was  finally  resolved  that  Giuliano 
should  remain  at  Rome  with  the  title  of  gonfalonier  and 
captain  of  the  holy  see.  By  means  of  an  alliance  which  he 
made  with  a  lady  of  the  blood  of  Savoy,  aunt  of  the  King  of 
France,  he  secured  to  himself  the  duchy  of  Nemours,  and  thus 
voluntarily  gave  up  all  pretensions  to  the  government  of  Flo 
rence.  Lorenzo  contented  himself  with  the  state  of  Florence, 
and  soon  returned  to  govern  it  in  the  same  manner  and  form  as 
his  father  and  his  other  ancestors  had  governed.  Giulio  was 
promoted  to  the  archbishopric  of  Florence,  vacant  by  the  death 
of  Cosmo  de'  Pazzi,  with  the  prospect  of  being  made  a  cardinal 
at  the  first  subsequent  creation  which  the  pope  should  make. 

"  In  this  manner,  in  the  beginning  of  the  pontificate  of  Leo, 
did  the  Medici  divide  among  themselves  the  state  and  their  own 
power  and  emoluments.  Lorenzo  returned  to  Florence,  and 
consulted  with  the  principal  citizens  about  giving  orders  for 
reforming  the  government  in  all  things  to  the  state  it  was  in 
before  1494,  according  to  the  intentions  of  the  pope,  resolved  on 
in  Rome.  They  were  very  attentive  to  hasten  the  general  scru 
tiny,  because  of  the  absence  of  so  many  citizens,  who,  for  various 
reasons,  had  gone  to  Rome,  and,  after  the  creation  of  the  pope, 
were  not  in  haste  to  return.  When  it  was  finished,  imborsed, 
and  begun  to  be  used,  a  council  of  seventy  was  made  by 
Lorenzo,  for  life,  in  the  form  and  with  the  authority  of  that  in 
the  time  of  his  grandfather,  in  1482  ;  and  orders  were  also  given 
to  constitute  a  council  of  a  hundred,  which  from  six  months  to 
six  months,  according  to  the  ancient  custom,  should  be  drawn. 
Into  this  council  of  a  hundred,  all  who  had  been  gonfaloniers 
of  justice  might  enter  at  their  pleasure  ;  in  it  were  debated  and 
determined  all  provisions  of  money,  impositions  of  taxes,  and  all 
laws  and  ordinances  of  most  importance  which  had  been  pre 
viously  approved  in  the  council  of  seventy ;  and  to  enlarge  their 
system  still  more,  and  make  it  more  universally  satisfactory,  they 
further  ordained  a  drawing  by  lot  from  time  to  time  of  the  ancient 
councils  of  the  people  and  the  commons,  which  might  determine 
on  the  petitions  of  private  persons,  that  should  be  first  passed  in 
the  council  of  seventy.  In  all  cases  which  could  occur,  and  for 
the  security  of  the  state,  although  they  adopted  these  ordinary 


132  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

councils,  they  maintained  firm  the  authority  of  their  balia,  which 
was  kept  constantly  in  being  until  the  revolution  in  the  state, 
that  happened  in  1527.  The  scrutiny  ended,  they  created  the 
seventy,  drew  the  other  councils,  and  began  to  make  another 
change  of  the  ten  for  war,  for  the  eight  of  their  new  plan,  in 
order  to  return  every  thing  to  the  state  it  was  in  before  1494. 
All  these  ordinances  were  thus  renewed  and  perfected  in  Decem 
ber,  1513,  Pandolfo  Corbinelli  being  then  gonfalonier;  and  the 
seventy  were  elected  for  a  term  only,  but  with  such  power  of 
confirmation  that  they  might  be  said  to  be  for  life.  Notwith 
standing  all  these  precautions,  and  the  absolute  power  of  the 
balia,  divisions  among  the  principal  citizens  still  continued; 
some  were  for  making  the  government  more  popular,  others 
more  aristocratical ;  and  these  divisions,  which  lasted  till  1527,* 
gave  much  trouble  to  the  Medici. 

"  The  affairs  of  the  Medici  and  of  the  state  being  thus  settled, 
Giuliano  began  to  think  he  had  been  mistaken  in  leaving  Flo 
rence  to  his  nephew ;  and  Lorenzo,  amidst  such  grandeur  in  his 
house,  began  to  be  discontented  at  remaining  without  any 
princely  title,  and  at  having  no  other  than  a  civil  rank  in  Flo 
rence  ;  wherefore  he  shaped  his  course  to  Rome,  and  communi 
cated  his  intention  to  the  pope. 

"  He  returned  in  1515,  determined  to  be  made  captain-general 
of  the  Florentines ;  and  this  dignity  was  solemnly  assumed  by 
him  from  the  hands  of  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  who  was  at  that 
time  Chimenti  Sernigi,  in  the  presence  of  the  signori,  and  of  all 
the  magistrates,  and  a  great  part  of  the  people,  assembled  in  the 
piazza  with  the  staff  of  command,  and  the  other  public  ensigns 
usually  given  to  a  captain-general,  with  the  greatest  demonstra 
tions  of  joy  and  universal  rejoicings.  In  this  manner  Lorenzo 
began  to  depart  from  the  ancient  manners  of  his  family,  and  to 
lay  aside  in  all  things  that  mode  of  proceeding  popularly  in  his 
dress,  conversation,  and  intercourse  with  the  citizens,  which  had 
ever  been  observed  by  his  predecessors.  Having  assumed  his 
title  and  magnificence,  he  went  to  Lombardy,  to  make  his  court 
to  the  King  of  France,  who  was  come  to  Italy  to  establish  his 
authority  in  Milan,  which  he  had  lately  recovered.  He  became 

*  Erano  i  cittadini  appresso  a'  Medici  molto  divisi,  e  dettero  queste  divisioni, 
che  si  mantenero  sempre  ne'  primi  cittadini  del  governo,  di  molte  difficulta  a' 
Medici  per  insino  al  1527.  Nerli,  p.  129. 


FLORENCE.  133 

a  great  favorite  with  his  majesty,  from  the  desire  he  had  of  agree 
ing  with  the  pope,  and  because  Lorenzo,  in  all  his  actions  and 
conversation,  discovered  an  attachment  to  the  faction  of  the 
Guelphs  and  the  politics  of  France." 

"  Soon  afterwards,  an  accommodation  was  made  between  the 
pope  and  the  king,  and  the  pope  set  out  on  a  journey  to  Bologna, 
to  have  an  interview  with  him.  Passing  through  Florence,  he 
made  his  entry  into  the  city*  with  great  pomp.  Between  the 
pope  and  the  king  many  things  were  agreed  on,  for  their  mutual 
defence  and  the  maintenance  of  their  power;  and  Lorenzo, 
because  he  eagerly  wished  to  increase  his  importance,  and  obtain 
the  title  of  duke,  solicited  the  pope,  under  the  auspices  of  France, 
to  undertake  an  enterprise  against  Urbino,  as  it  was  thought  the 
king  could  not  fail  of  success,  the  pope  having  restored  Parma 
and  Placentia,  two  cities  which  Giulio  had  added  to  the  state  of 
the  church  when  the  French  lost  the  state  of  Milan.  But  the 
project  of  an  enterprise  against  Urbino  was  very  disagreeable  to 
Giuliano  de'  Medici,  and  he  warmly  opposed  it  as  infamous 
ingratitude,  considering  the  civilities  and  favors  the  family  had 
received  in  their  exile  from  that  dukedom. 

"  The  pope  was  advised  to  recall  the  Bentivogli  to  Bologna, 
and  restore  Modena  and  Reggio  to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara;  but 
Giulio  de'  Medici,"  says  Guicciardini,  "  cardinal  and  legate  of 
Bologna,  whom  the  pope  had  sent  to  be  a  moderator  and  coun 
sellor  to  the  inexperienced  youth  of  Lorenzo,  moved  at  the  infamy 
that  would  be  cast  on  the  memory  of  his  legateship  if  Bologna 
was  given  up  to  its  old  tyrants,  and  so  great  a  number  of  the 
nobility,  who  had  openly  declared  against  them  in  favor  of  the 
apostolic  see,  sacrificed  to  their  revenge,  dissuaded  it. 

"  Giulio,  though  of  illegitimate  birth,  had  been  promoted  to 
the  cardinalship  by  Leo,  in  the  first  month  of  his  pontificate,  by 
means  of  witnesses,  who,  preferring  the  favor  of  men  before  the 
truth,  deposed,  that  his  mother  had  obtained  of  his  father  Giuli 
ano  a  promise  of  marriage.  Giuliano  this  year  came  to  Flo 
rence  in  ill  health,  and  resided  sometimes  in  the  city,  and  some 
times  out  of  it,  in  the  neighboring  cities,  not  without  exciting 
great  jealousy  in  Lorenzo,  and  Alfonsina,  his  mother,  who 
governed  in  the  absence  of  her  son.  The  pope  was  in  great 

*  Con  magnifico  apparato,  con  molta  pompa,  e  con  solennita  grandissima. 
Nerli,  p.  129. 

VOL.    V.  12 


134  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

perplexity,  and  could  not  determine  whether  to  undertake  the 
enterprise  against  Urbino,  so  much  resisted  by  his  brother,  and 
so  ardently  desired  by  his  nephew ;  and  he  hesitated  the  more, 
because  he  discovered  that  the  King  of  France  had  consented 
against  his  inclination.  Giuliano  was  so  ill,  that  he  could  not 
censure  the  project  to  the  pope,  excepting  by  his  agents  and 
letters,  and  Lorenzo,  by  his  assiduous  solicitations,  held  the  king 
well  disposed  to  his  inclinations,  and  was  continually  about  the 
pope  with  persuasions  to  undertake  it.  The  interview  between 
the  pope  and  the  king  at  Bologna  being  finished,  the  former 
returned  to  Florence,  apparently  resolved  to  give  satisfaction  to 
his  nephew ;  yet,  on  account  of  Giuliano,  he  proceeded  to  take 
measures  for  the  enterprise  with  some  circumspection.  But 
the  disorder  of  Giuliano  increasing,  he  died  in  March,  1516,  at 
Badia  de  Fiesole,  where  he  resided  for  the  benefit  of  better  air. 
A  few  days  afterwards  the  pope  left  Florence,  and  returned  to 
Rome." 

"  Lorenzo  now  remained,  without  any  contradiction,  in  all 
things  heir  of  the  state,  the  fortune  and  the  grandeur  of  the  house 
of  Medici ;  and  being  now  more  than  ever  warm  in  his  desire 
to  be  made  Duke  of  Urbino,*4ie  was  invested  by  the  pope  in 
consistory.  Lorenzo  was  put  in  command  of  an  army,  com 
posed  of  the  soldiers  and  subjects  of  the  church  and  the  Floren 
tines  ;  and  the  pope  deprived  f  Francesco  Maria  of  these  do 
minions  by  solemn  sentence,  and  gave  the  investiture  of  the 
duchy  of  Urbino,  in  a  consistory,  to  Lorenzo  his  nephew,  all 
the  cardinals  setting  their  hands  to  the  bull. 

"  In  the  year  1517  certain  cardinals  formed  a  conspiracy 
against  the  pope,  and  the  Cardinal  Soderini  was  found  among 
the  guilty ;  but  upon  confession  of  their  error,  the  pope  excused 
them  with  great  humanity.1  But  upon  this  occasion,  in  order 
to  fill  up  the  college,  he  made  a  new  promotion  of  cardinals, 
among  whom  were  his  two  nephews  of  the  Salviati  and  Ridolfi 
families.  At  this  time  the  citizens  of  the  state  of  Florence 


*  Nerli,  p.  130.  f  Guicciardin,  lib.  xii. 

1  It  is  difficult  to  understand  this  compliment,  in  the  face  of  the  combination 
of  fraud,  cruelty,  and  avarice  exposed  by  most  of  the  historians  in  telling  the 
story.  The  curious  reader  can  gather  the  particulars  in  the  history  of  Sismondi, 
vol.  xiv.  pp.  432-439,  with  the  authorities  upon  which  he  relies.  This  writer 
has  done  the  world  great  service  in  bringing  the  conduct  of  the  Medici  family  to 
the  test  of  an  unswerving  moral  code. 


FLORENCE.  135 

were  in  secret  very  discontented,  because  the  Duke  Lorenzo, 
desiring  to  reduce  the  government  to  the  form  of  a  principality, 
appeared  to  disdain  to  consult  any  longer  with  the  magistrates 
and  his  fellow-citizens  as  he  used  to  do,  and  gave  audiences  very 
seldom,  and  with  much  impatience ;  he  attended  less  to  the  busi 
ness  of  the  city,  and  caused  all  public  affairs  to  be  managed  by 
Messer  Goro  da  Pistoia,  his  secretary.  This  person,  either  fol 
lowing  the  inclination  of  his  own  nature,  or  because  the  duke 
had  given  him  orders  what  to  do,  governed  in  such  a  manner, 
and  so  conducted  himself  with  the  citizens,  that  there  appeared 
in  him  more  grandeur,  and  more  of  the  qualities  of  a  prince, 
and  he  required  more  honor,  than  any  one  of  the  house  of 
Medici  ever  had  done  in  the  sixty  years  that  had  passed  between 
1434  and  1494.  The  citizens,  who  had  borne  so  much  envy 
against  Galeotto  de'  Medici,  found,  in  the  example  of  Goro, 
reason  to  acknowledge  and  repent  of  their  error;  for  Galeotto, 
who  held  from  the  Duke  Lorenzo  the  same  authority  and  the 
same  employment  before  Goro,  and  was  besides  of  the  family 
of  JVledici,  did  the  public  business  of  the  palace,  and  went  in 
person  to  confer  with  the  citizens,  and  was  satisfied  with  civilly 
serving  his  patron,  and  with  being  more  in  reality,  and  less  in 
appearance. 

"  Lorenzo  now  made  a  journey  to  France,  having  made  an 
alliance  with  the  king.  In  1518  he  returned  with  his  lady,  and 
the  marriage  was  celebrated  with  much  pomp,  rejoicings,*  and 
festivity.  Many  citizens  at  this  time,  having  discovered  the 
inclination  of  the  duke,  and  that  he  was  determined  to  reduce 
the  state  to  the  form  of  a  principality,  would  not  consent  to  it. 
Some  withdrew  themselves  from  public  affairs,  despairing  of  the 
commonwealth ;  others  confined  themselves  to  their  houses,  under 
pretence  of  sickness  ;  but  others,  having  more  courage  and  better 
support,  went  to  Rome,  under  the  protection  of  the  pope.  The 
duke,  to  make  the  last  effort  to  dispose  the  pope  to  reduce  the 
state  of  Florence  to  a  principality,  went  to  finish  his  nuptials  at 
Rome,  and  carried  with  him  Vettori  and  Strozzi,  in  whom  he 
confided,  and  with  whom  he  often  consulted;  and  after  many 
intrigues  with  the  pope,  they  returned  to  Florence,  determined  to 
reform  the  state.  But  in  1519  he  died,  about  ten  days  after  his 

*  Si  fecero  le  nozze  sontuosissime,  con  molta  pompa,  allegrezza,  e  festa  gran- 
dissima.     Nerli,  p.  131. 


136  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

wife,  who,  however,  had  left  him  a  daughter,  afterwards  Queen 
of  France. 

"  Goro,  and  the  citizens  in  his  confidence,  had  secretly  ordered 
the  piazza,  to  be  fortified,  and  the  guards  doubled;  and  had 
caused  to  be  assembled  in  Florence,  from  various  places  of  the 
dominion,  a  good  number  of  their  friends  and  confidential  parti 
sans,  to  assist,  as  occasion  might  happen,  in  the  preservation  of 
the  public  security,  and  in  observing  the  conduct  of  those  citizens 
who  had  given  any  cause  of  suspicion ;  and  Antonio  di  Bettino 
da  Eicosoli  was  imborsed  gonfalonier.  The  Cardinal  de'  Medici, 
who  arrived  two  days  before  the  death  of  the  duke,  being  sent 
by  the  pope  to  give  orders,  regulated  all  things  to  general  satis 
faction.*  After  the  funeral  of  the  duke,  the  cardinal  entered  into 
intimate  consultations  with  the  principal  citizens,  and  reesta 
blished  the  government,  according  to  the  form  and  order  which 
the  pope  had  given  to  Duke  Lorenzo.  The  cardinal  himself 
remained,  by  order  of  the  pope,  in  the  government,  to  give  fur 
ther  satisfaction  to  the  citizens,  whom  he  knew  to  be  disgusted 
with  the  proceedings  of  Goro  in  the  lifetime  of  the  duke,  and  the 
great  authority  he  had  assumed,  perhaps  greater  than  the  duke 
had  given  him ;  he  reduced  the  business  of  the  magistrates,  elec 
tions,  customs  of  office,  and  the  mode  of  expenditure  of  the  public 
money,  in  such  a  manner,  that  there  appeared  a  very  great  and 
universal  joy  among  the  citizens ;  and  no  other  or  greater  diffi 
culties  remained  to  him  than  the  usual  divisions  among  the 
citizens  of  the  state  ;  some  of  whom  contended  for  enlarging,  and 
others  for  restraining  the  elections  of  magistrates.  Wherefore, 
those  who  wished  the  state  more  contracted,  at  the  head  of  whom 
was  Ridolfi,  opposed  themselves  to  Salviati,  who,  by  order  of  the 
pope,  was  returned  to  Florence  with  the  cardinal,  and  he,  for 
contrary  reasons,  was  opposed  to  them ;  and  because  the  cardi 
nal  went  on,  amusing  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  the  other 
party,  and  supporting  both,  their  divisions  were  much  more 
apparent  at  this  time,  and  the  heads  of  each  conducted  them 
selves  with  less  dissimulation  than  they  had  done  in  the  lifetime 
of  the  duke.  Indeed,  the  dissensions  of  the  citizens  arose  in  all 
important  affairs  which  the  cardinal  had  to  provide  for  or  to  think 
of  in  his  government;  whereas,  in  the  other  case,  in  the  most 

*  Nerli,  lib.  vii.  p.  133. 


FLORENCE.  137 

important  affairs  they  followed  without  any  difficulty  that  which 
was  ordered  daily  by  the  pope." 

The  cardinal  seems  to  have  diverted  the  factions  from  any 
effectual  opposition  to  his  government,  by  playing  them  one 
against  the  other,  and  fomenting  their  mutual  animosities ;  for 
his  government  was  very  successful  and  frugal,  and  money  was 
saved  in  it  to  pay  off  the  public  debts.  But  the  war  soon  fol 
lowed,  of  Pope  Leo  X.  and  Charles  V.,  who  had  lately  succeeded 
Maximilian  in  the  empire,  against  the  French.  The  cardinal 
was  sent  with  his  army,  as  apostolical  legate,  and  went  into 
Lombardy,  leaving  in  his  place,  in  the  government  of  Florence, 
the  Cardinal  di  Cortona.  The  affairs  of  the  pope  and  emperor 
succeeded  prosperously  against  the  French,  who  lost  Milan  ;  but 
the  pope,  on  the  last  of  November,  1521,  died,  and  finished,  in 
the  midst  of  so  much  grandeur,  the  legitimate  succession  of  the 
house  of  Medici,  and  the  male  line  of  the  first  Cosimo,  who  by 
a  public  decree  was  called  "  the  father  of  his  country,"  and  who, 
in  1434,  had  given  rise  to  the  greatness  of  his  family. 

"After  the  death  of  the  pope,  the  cardinal  suddenly  departed 
from  Milan,  and  returned  to  Florence,  where  he  found  that  the 
signori  had  given  good  orders  for  the  conservation  of  the  state, 
and  that  Francesco  Vettori,  who  was  gonfalonier  of  justice,  the 
Cardinal  di  Cortona,  and  the  principal  citizens  in  the  government, 
had  made  every  provision  and  taken  every  precaution  for  the 
benefit  and  safety  of  the  state ;  and  he  found,  too,  on  so  great 
an  occasion  as  that  of  a  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  the 
pope,  a  ready  inclination  in  all  the  principal  citizens,  and  a  uni 
versal  desire  among  the  people,  to  maintain  the  state  in  the 
hands  of  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici ;  and  all  this  felicity  arose 
from  his  good  government,  which,  since  the  death  of  the  Duke 
Lorenzo,  had  been  universally  agreeable. 

"  Consulting  now  with  the  principal  citizens,  orders  were  given 
for  defence  in  the  war  which  Renzo  da  Ceri,  by  the  favor  of  the 
French,  had  excited  in  Siena,  with  a  view  to  change  the  govern 
ment  in  Florence.  This  war  was  fomented  by  the  Cardinal 
Soderini,  and  occasioned  a  fresh  declaration  against  his  family, 
that  they  were  rebels,  and  involved  them  in  greater  calamities 
than  they  had  suffered  in  1512.  During  this  war,  many  citizens 
began  to  speak  without  reserve  of  a  greater  degree  of  liberty, 
and  a  new  reform  of  the  government.  They  reported  publicly 
12* 


138  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

that  the  cardinal,  for  want  of  relations  and  a  legitimate  succes 
sion  in  his  family,  would  be  willing  in  a  measure  to  dispose  of 
the  authority  of  the  balia,  and  leave  the  government  freely  in  the 
people,  with  a  certain  authority  reserved  to  a  senate  for  life,  to 
consist  of  the  best  citizens,  and  to  himself  a  balia  for  some 
purposes  during  his  life;  and  when  the  principal  and  most 
suspected  persons  in  this  way  were  secured,  although  an  army 
was  still  in  Siena,  these  discourses  continued  and  increased. 
Many  were  so  eager,  and  so  drawn  away  by  their  wishes  and 
their  love  of  novelty,  that  they  began  too  soon  to  descend  to 
particulars  concerning  the  manner  of  reforming  the  govern 
ment,  which  they  believed  and  said  ought  to  be  undertaken; 
and  they  proposed  the  mode  of  electing  the  gonfalonier  of 
justice ;  some  of  them  would  have  him  for  life,  as  he  had  been 
when  Soderini  was  elected  in  1502,  and  others  desired  he  might 
be  elected  annually,  as  Ridolfi  was  in  1512.  Such  was  the  zeal 
of  many,  deceived  by  their  credulity  and  the  ardent  passions 
which  transported  them,  that  they  began  to  speak  more  freely  of 
the  person  to  be  elected,  and  Acciaioli  and  Vettori  were  named, 
and  Gondi ;  but  all  agreed  at  last,  the  better  to  conciliate  the 
cardinal,  to  leave  the  election  for  the  first  time  wholly  to  him. 

"  These  practices  went  so  far,  that  those  citizens  began  to  be 
publicly  named  and  discriminated,  who  were  in  favor  of  the 
reformation  of  the  government,  and  those  who  were  against  it. 
That  party  of  the  citizens  who  had  counselled  the  cardinal  to  a 
large  and  comprehensive  distribution  of  honors,  and  who  had 
ever  taken  the  protection  of  the  generality,  appeared,  upon  these 
conversations  of  a  reform,  to  give  some  attention  to  it ;  and  that 
party  which  desired  to  hold  the  public  offices  and  honors  in  few 
families,  detested  and  censured  those  who  talked  of  any  reforma 
tion  at  all.  The  generality  of  the  citizens  stood  neutral,  expect 
ing,  however,  with  great  desire,  that  the  reform  would  take  place. 
One  class  of  young  men,  and  especially  those  who  had  concurred 
in  the  rise  of  Rucellai,  solicited  it,  and  discovered  themselves." 

In  this  manner  the  whole  city  was  divided  and  confounded ; 
the  greater  part  of  the  citizens  agitated,  some  with  hopes,  and 
others  with  fears ;  and  many  ventured  so  far  as  to  write  various 
models  for  such  a  reformation,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  cardi 
nal.  Among  these,  Zanobi  Buondelmonti  and  Nicholas  Machi- 
avel  sufficiently  distinguished  themselves.  Nerli  says  he  saw 


FLORENCE.  139 

these  writings,  which  were  communicated  to  him  by  the  authors 
at  the  time  of  these  intrigues.  They  were  also  communicated 
to  the  cardinal,1  who  pretended  to  hold  them  in  high  esteem.* 
Alexander  de'  Pazzi  composed  a  most  elegant  and  beautiful  ora 
tion,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Florence,  in  praise  of  the  car 
dinal,  for  the  restoration  of  the  commonwealth;  which  Nerli 
remembers  to  have  heard  recited  before  a  large  company  at  a 
supper,  where,  having  obtained  a  copy,  he  sent  it  to  Rome  to  the 
Cardinal  Salviati.  These  speculations  proceeded  so  far,  and 
were  so  freely  discoursed  on,  and  in  so  many  ways,  that  it  began 
to  appear  to  the  cardinal  that  he  had  permitted  them  to  run  too 
far,  and  he  thought  of  means  to  restrain  them ;  but  things  had 
gone  so  much  beyond  his  intentions,  he  found  some  difficulty  to 
resist  their  course. 

"  Fortune  presented  him  a  convenient  opportunity,  which  was 
this.  There  had  been  formed,  at  the  time  of  the  rise  of  Rucellai, 
a  certain  school  of  young  men  of  letters  and  of  elevated  genius, 
among  whom  was  Cosimo  Rucellai,  who  died  very  young,  though 
he  had  excited  great  expectations  among  the  literati.  This 
society  was  much  frequented  by  Nicholas  Machiavel ;  and  Nerli 
says  he  was  a  most  intimate  friend  of  Machiavel,  and  had  fre 
quent  conversations  in  this  club.  These  gentlemen  not  only 
amused  themselves,  but  made  a  business  and  duty  of  exercising 
themselves  in  the  study  of  history,  and  in  making  observations 
and  reflections  upon  it.  At  their  request  Machiavel  composed 
his  discourses  upon  Livy,  and  his  treatise  of  military  matters. 
These  persons  went  on,  thinking,  by  an  imitation  of  the  ancients, 
to  effect  something  that  should  be  grand  and  noble,  and  render 
them  illustrious.  At  length  they  wrought  themselves  up  to  the 
thoughts  of  a  conspiracy  against  the  cardinal,  and  did  not  well 
consider  what  Machiavel  in  his  discourses  had  written  to  them 
on  the  subject  of  conspiracies.  Had  they  done  so,  they  would 
either  not  have  engaged  in  the  design,  or,  if  they  had,  would 
have  proceeded  in  it  with  greater  caution.  The  heads  of 
this  plot  were  Zanobi  Buondelmonti  and  Luigi  Alamanni. 
Their  intention  was  to  assassinate  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici, 

*  E  tutti  suoi  scritti  andavano  in  mano  del  cardinale,  che  mostrava  di  tenerne 
conto,  e  di  fame  capitale  grandissimo.  Nerli,  lib.  vii.  p.  137. 

1  The  work  of  Machiavel,  stated  to  have  been  drawn  up  at  the  instance  of  the 
pope,  is  analyzed  and  commented  on  after  the  author's  manner  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  this  volume. 


140  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

and  thus  bring  back  the  city  to  a  free  government,  and  restore 
liberty  to  the  people,  as  they  enjoyed  it  before  1512.  After  the 
death  of  Leo  X.,  they  sent  Batista  della  Palla,  who  was  in  the 
conspiracy  with  them,  to  Cardinal  Soderini,  in  order  to  inform 
him  of  their  indignation  against  the  cardinal,  and  to  persuade 
him,  as  an  exile  and  an  enemy  of  the  Medici,  to  make,  with 
Renzo  da  Ceri  and  the  family  of  the  Soderini,  such  provision  as 
they  should  judge  proper  to  conduct  their  designs,  and  to  obtain 
intelligence  of  the  progress  of  this  war.  But  the  enterprise  not 
succeeding  with  Signor  Renzo  as  was  expected,  the  plot  was  first 
suspected,  and  at  length,  by  degrees,  discovered  by  the  cardinal; 
the  principal  persons  engaged  in  it  were  obliged  to  fly,  and 
were  declared  rebels,  particularly  Buondelmonti,  Alamanni,  Palla, 
Bruccioli ;  and  others  were  apprehended  and  beheaded ;  by  which 
means  the  cardinal  was  again  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
government,  as  well  as  his  life,  and  an  end  was  put  to  all  the 
vain  designs  and  idle  discourses  of  a  free  government. 

"  In  1522,  the  cardinal  contrived  an  interview  at  Leghorn  and 
at  Florence,  with  Adrian  the  pope;  in  consequence  of  which, 
Cardinal  Soderini  was  imprisoned  in  the  castle  at  Rome,  and 
prevented  from  fomenting  further  designs  against  the  Medici ; 
and  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  became  a  great  favorite  with  the 
pope  and  the  emperor.  Having  adjusted  with  the  pope  all  his 
affairs,  the  cardinal  gave  orders  that  Hippolito,  a  natural  son  of  the 
Duke  Giuliano,  and  Alexander,  a  natural  son  of  the  Duke  Lorenzo, 
should  be  committed  to  the  care  of  Roso  Ridolfi  and  Giovanni 
Corsi,  that  he  might  avail  himself  of  them  in  time  to  maintain 
the  reputation  and  authority  of  the  state  in  the  house  of  Medici, 
in  the  succession  of  the  first  Cosimo,  who  was  called  "the  father 
of  his  country,"  in  the  best  manner  that  he  could,  being  deter 
mined  to  exclude  the  other  branch  in  the  descendants  of  his  bro 
ther  Lorenzo.  He  proceeded,  however,  in  this  deliberation  with 
much  caution  and  reserve,  pretending  to  doubt  of  the  brains  as 
well  as  heart  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  of  whom  in  truth  he  was 
jealous ;  for,  instead  of  meriting  the  contempt  of  the  cardinal,  he 
had  a  liberality  and  a  greatness  of  soul,  that  enabled  him  to 
acquire  the  highest  fame  in  the  military  art,  which  he  had  pur 
sued  from  his  tender  years."  In  short,  according  to  Nerli,  who 
knew  him,  he  was  possessed  of  every  virtue  and  quality  of  a 
great  prince. 


FLORENCE.  141 

"  In  September,  1523,  Pope  Adrian  died ;  and,  after  a  long 
contest  in  which  the  cardinals  were  two  months  in  the  conclave, 
on  the  nineteenth  of  November  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  was 
created  pope,  taking  the  name  of  Clement  VIL,  and  thus  united 
the  sovereign  authority,  which  he  held  in  Florence,  to  the  exten 
sive  power  of  the  church  ;  upon  which  happy  election,  as  it  was 
called,  there  were  great  external  signs  of  joy  in  Florence,  in  the 
fervor  of  which  an  event  happened  remarkable  enough  to  be 
related :  —  In  the  vacancy  of  the  pontificate  many  wagers  had 
been  laid  concerning  the  new  election ;  among  many  who  lost 
was  Peter  Orlandini,  and  being  too  importunately  solicited  by 
the  winner  to  pay,  he  answered  in  great  wrath  that  he  would 
not  pay  until  it  was  determined  whether  the  election  had  been 
made  canonically  or  not.  These  words  were  reported  to  the 
magistrates,  and,  after  the  importance  of  them  had  been  con 
sidered  by  the  cabal,  Peter  was  summoned  by  the  eight  of  the 
balia,  and  upon  his  appearance  was  seized  and  beheaded  in  a 
few  hours. 

"  Soon  after  the  creation  of  the  pope,  the  Soderini  were 
restored  to  their  country,  because,  although  at  first  their  cardinal 
in  conclave  had  been  zealous  against  the  Medici,  his  friends, 
and  particularly  the  Cardinal  Colonna,  had  labored  to  reconcile 
him,  and  succeeded  so  far,  that  his  nephews  were  restored,  and 
he  remained  afterwards  in  the  good  graces  of  his  holiness. 
Palla  Rucellai,  with  nine  others,  were  sent  ambassadors  to  ren 
der  the  usual  homage  to  the  new  pope.  With  these  ambassa 
dors  the  pope  intrigued,  as  he  could  no  longer  govern  in  Florence, 
to  have  one  of  the  two  young  natural  sons  sent  to  govern  the 
city.  Some  among  the  ambassadors  and  other  Florentines  then 
at  Rome  were  well  inclined  ;  others  were  timorous  in  disclosing 
their  opinions  ;  some  having  notice  of  the  secret,  and  of  the  will 
of  the  pope,  and  all  well  knowing  what  the  pope  had  determined, 
in  order  to  satisfy  him,  and  constrained  by  necessity  rather  than 
swayed  by  any  reason  or  inclination,  requested  of  his  holiness 
one  of  the  young  men.  The  pope  sent  Hippolito,  the  son 
of  the  Duke  Giuliano,  under  the  guardianship  of  the  Cardi 
nal  di  Cortona,  because  he  was  yet  too  young  for  so  great 
a  government ;  and  Ottaviano  de'  Medici  had  the  care  of 
the  family  affairs  and  the  control  of  the  house  and  family  of 
the  Magnificent  Hippolito,  as  he  was  called,  and  as  his  father 


142  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

had  been  entitled  at  the  time  of  their  exile,  when  he  had  the 
title  of  Duke  of  Nemours.  Ottaviano  was  also  to  take  the 
care  of  Alexander,  the  son  of  the  Duke  Lorenzo.  In  this  man 
ner  were  all  things  disposed  relative  to  the  state  of  Florence 
and  the  house  of  Medici ;  and  thus  they  remained  for  four  years, 
until  1527,  when  a  general  scrutiny  was  made,  which  was  very 
extensive,  and  therefore  made  with  universal  satisfaction. 

"  In  1524,  a  civil  war  broke  out  in  Pistoia  between  the  parties 
called  Panciatichi  and  Cancellieri,  and  the  Panciatichi  prevail 
ing,  expelled  and  banished,  as  usual,  their  adversaries,  and 
every  thing  was  there  soon  settled.  The  pope  did  not  much 
interfere  in  the  war  in  Lombardy  between  Charles  and  Francis, 
which  followed  the  memorable  defeat  of  the  French  before 
Pavia,  when  the  king  was  taken  prisoner  and  conducted  to 
Spain  by  the  emperor.  In  this  tranquillity  of  foreign  affairs, 
the  Cardinal  di  Cortona  had,  however,  enough  to  do  to  cement 
his  government,  amidst  all  their  discontents  and  his  own  ungrate 
ful  manner  of  treating  the  citizens.  For  the  best  friends,  as  well 
as  others,  did  not  find  in  the  government  of  the  pope  that  which 
had  been  promised,  nor  those  conditions  and  qualities  of  profit 
and  honor  which  they  relished  so  much  in  his  mode  of  pro 
ceeding  and  government  while  he  was  cardinal ;  nor  could 
the  Cardinal  di  Cortona  perceive,  until  in  1527  it  became 
very  manifest,  how  much  it  imported  to  the  benefit  of  the 
state  and  the  house  of  Medici,  that  he  should  study  the  charac 
ter  of  the  citizens  and  the  principles  and  motives  of  their  divi 
sions;  especially  after  the  party,  the  most  decided  in  favor  of 
the  Medici,  and  of  consequence  the  most  odious  to  the  general 
ity,  had  been  uncommonly  weakened  by  the  death  of  Alamanni, 
Corbinelli,  Serristori,  and  some  others,  the  most  warm  in  their 
party,  and  the  most  jealous  of  any  opposition  to  the  present 
government. 

After  them  too  Ridolfi  died ;  but  he,  before  his  death,  by  an 
intermarriage  with  the  Strozzi,  had  been  somewhat  cooled,  and 
dreaded  a  change  less  than  formerly.  The  other  party,  on  the 
contrary,  were  much  exalted  in  their  hopes  and  confidence,  as 
they  had  increased  in  reputation  with  the  Strozzi,  Capponi,  and 
Guicciardini,  who,  by  their  great  quality  and  riches,  drew  after 
them  a  strong  band  of  honorable  citizens ;  with  these  concurred 
Vettori,  being  a  relation  of  Capponi,  and  an  intimate  friend  of 


FLORENCE.  143 

Philip  Strozzi ;  and  as  to  the  Salviati,  although  Jacopo  was  shut 
up  in  Rome,  there  remained  in  Florence  Averardo  and  Piero, 
the  sons  of  Alamanni,  the  cousins  of  Capponi,  Francesco  Guic- 
ciardini,  and  the  relations  of  Matteo  Strozzi.  Having  accu 
mulated  so  much  favor,  so  great  abilities,  such  credit,  and  so 
many  intimate  connections,  this  party  began  to  be  as  bold  as 
they  were  active  and  powerful ;  and  Niccolo  Capponi  went  on 
with  the  greatest  reputation  increasing  it,  as  he  had  discovered 
upon  all  occasions  such  popular  principles  and  feelings,  and  had 
acquired  so  much  popular  benevolence,  that  those  who  were 
desirous  of  innovation  and  a  more  liberal  government,  appeared 
to  have  found  a  sufficient  support,  whenever  a  proper  opportunity 
should  occur  of  making  a  change. 

"  These  causes,  however,  produced  no  effect  while  the  affairs 
of  the  war  between  the  grand  princes  stood  in  suspense  and 
unaltered,  as  they  did  during  the  time  that  the  king  was  prisoner 
to  the  emperor  in  Spain.  But  after  he  had  ransomed  him 
self  and  recovered  his  liberty  and  his  kingdom,  he  was  more 
determined  than  ever  to  pursue  his  desire  of  recovering  the  state 
of  Milan.  It  appeared  to  him,  though  he  had  left  his  sons  as 
hostages  in  the  hands  of  the  emperor,  that  the  conditions  of  the 
convention  for  his  liberation  were  too  hard  to  be  observed. 
Not  able  to  compose  his  mind,  determined  at  all  hazards  to 
renew  the  war,  and  having  found  the  princes  of  Italy  in  the 
same  disposition,  he  agreed  with  the  pope  and  Venetians,  in  a 
league  against  the  emperor,  in  which  the  pope  would  have  the 
Florentines  named  and  comprehended.  This  league  commenced 
the  war  in  Lombardy.  In  the  army  of  the  church  and  for  the 
pope,  in  place  of  a  legate,  and  with  the  title  of  locum  tenens  of 
the  holy  see,  was  Francesco  Guicciardini ;  the  Conte  Guido 
Rangoni,  then  governor  of  the  people  of  the  church,  had  the 
general  government  of  the  ecclesiastical  state  ;  and  Giovanni  de' 
Medici  had  the  command  of  the  infantry  of  that  part  abroad 
which  was  commanded  by  Conte  Guido.  There  occurred  in 
this  war  many  dissensions  between  Giovanni  and  Guido  ;  with 
the  king,  in  his  camp,  was  the  Marquis  de  Saluzzo ;  the  Duke 
of  Urbino  was  for  the  Venetians.  This  war  began  about  the 
year  1526.* 

"  The  imperial  generals,  to  divert  the  pope  from  the  war  of 
*  Nerli,  lib.  vii.  p.  144. 


144  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Lombardy,  invaded  Rome  itself,  took  the  bourg  of  St.  Peter,  and 
plundered  the  palace  of  the  pope  himself;  who,  being  besieged 
in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  was  constrained  to  make  a  conven 
tion  to  his  disadvantage,  and  to  send  Philip  Strozzi  to  Naples  as  a 
hostage  for  the  security  of  the  treaty,  which,  among  other  condi 
tions,  contained  a  definite  suspension  of  arms.  But  all  this  suc 
cess  of  the  imperialists  could  not  move  the  pope  from  the  war. 
The  league  sent  Giovanni  de'  Medici  to  the  relief  of  Rome  ;  but 

o  / 

he  was  killed  in  a  skirmish,  which  relieved  the  pope  from  his 
jealousy,  though  it  exposed  his  capital  to  ruin. 

"  After  the  death  of  Giovanni,  those  citizens  of  Florence  who 
desired  an  alteration  in  the  government  began  to  take  courage 
and  discover  their  intentions.  They  proceeded  to  sound  all  the 
citizens  whom  they  thought  proper,  encouraging  them  to  the 
enterprise  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  younger  nobility  began  to 
desire  the  same  with  those  citizens  who  had  encouraged  and 
counselled  them,  and  to  demand  arms  of  the  signori  and  the 
public,  coloring  their  request  with  the  wish  by  such  means  to  be 
able  to  serve  and  defend  their  country  in  so  great  and  imminent 
a  danger  as  appeared  in  the  approach  of  a  large  hostile  army. 
They  desired  to  be  armed  on  no  other  account,  and  for  no  other 
end,  than  merely  for  the  benefit  and  defence  of  the  city.  Veiled 
under  such  colors,  these  youths  were  countenanced  by  all  that 
party  of  citizens  who  desired  to  enlarge  the  government,  and 
who  had  taken  upon  themselves  the  universal  protection  of  the 
people.  But  these  young  men  entered  principally  into  an  inti 
mate  connection  with  Nicholas  Capponi,  with  whom  all  the 
other  citizens  who  desired  to  enlarge  the  government  concurred ; 
and,  therefore,  in  the  council,  in  the  magistracy,  and  in  all  things, 
these  youths  were  the  favorites  of  Capponi,  Strozzi,  and  Louis 
Guicciardini,  and  they  took  such  courage  as  to  consult  with 
them  in  secret. 

"  Cardinal  di  Cortona  being,  as  he  commonly^was,  very  slow 
in  resolving,  was  ill  qualified  to  put  a  stop  to  this  secret  intelli 
gence,  especially  as  he  was  obliged  to  wait  for  instructions  from 
Rome  for  every  measure  of  his  conduct.  The  divisions  among 
the  citizens  made  him  still  more  timid,  which  was  the  reason 
that  the  spirits  of  these  youths  grew  bolder  every  day.  The 
pope  sent  Gherardo  Corsini  to  Florence  to  alter  the  fortifications 
of  the  city ;  but  this  measure  was  very  unpopular.  The  news 


FLORENCE.  145 

of  the  death  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici  threw  the  city  into  the 
utmost  consternation ;  and  all  these  circumstances  aided  the 
young  men  in  their  design.  The  people  universally,  the  citi 
zens,  and  the  young  noblemen,  were  become  very  licentious  in 
speech,  very  free  and  bold  in  expressing  their  conceits,  and  very 
tumultuous  and  disorderly,  going  in  armed  parties  in  the  streets 
in  the  night,  affronting  the  guards  and  disturbing  the  citizens 
with  impunity.  At  this  time  the  pope  sent  Cardinal  Cibo  and 
Ridolfi  to  assist  Cardinal  Cortona  ;  but  this  had  little  effect. 

"In  1527,  when  the  French  army  turned  their  march  towards 
Tuscany,  the  suspected  in  Florence  began  to  increase,  and  the 
youth  became  more  systematical  and  ardent  than  ever  in  their 
desire  to  be  armed  ;  which  they  now  demanded  with  greater 
confidence,  as  Louis  Guicciardini  was  appointed  gonfalonier. 
Cortona  assembled  in  council  many  citizens,  to  consult  upon 
things  of  such  consequence.  Nicholas  Capponi  began  with 
great  eloquence,  and  without  reserve,  to  say,  that  in  treating 
of  things  of  this  importance,  which  concerned  the  safety  of  all, 
it  was  reasonable  to  hold  the  consultations  in  the  palace, 
among  a  larger  number  of  the  citizens,  that  every  one  might 
more  freely  express  his  sentiments.  Gherardo  Corsini  spoke  in 
opposition  to  Capponi  with  spirit  in  favor  of  the  state ;  and 
while  the  principal  citizens  were  engaged  in  these  altercations, 
the  two  armies  were  approaching  the  city.  The  cardinal  and 
the  Magnificent  Hippolito  intended  to  ride  out  to  the  heads  of 
the  league,  and  to  Guicciardini,  the  pope's  lieutenant,  to  concert 
measures  for  securing  the  affairs  of  Florence  in  their  present 
critical  situation. 

"  There  were  in  the  piazza  many  circles  of  young  men,  who 
anxiously  waited  for  disturbances ;  and  in  the  house  of  Peter 
Salviati  a  great  rabble  was  collected  of  those  who,  a  little  time 
before,  had  been  concerned  in  the  nocturnal  tumults  which  had 
been  excited  with  the  servants  of  the  guard  of  the  lieutenant 
of  police.  Within,  with  the  gonfalonier,  were  those  chiefs,  who, 
at  first,  with  more  order  and  better  council,  had  always  managed 
those  intrigues  which  were  called  the  petitions  for  arms  ;  and 
already  in  the  palace  were  Nicholas  Capponi,  Mathew  Strozzi, 
and  Francis  Vettori,  to  countenance  the  youths,  and  contrive 
that  whatever  might  happen  should  follow  in  some  order. 

"  But  fortune,  which  had  otherwise  determined,  caused  an  idle 

VOL.  v.  13  j 


146  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

and  false  report  to  be  spread,  that  the  cardinal  and  Hippolito 
were  gone,  and  had  abandoned  the  state,  as  not  knowing  how  to 
maintain  it  any  longer  ;  as  these  reports  prevailed,  there  suddenly 
arose  in  the  piazza  a  confused  rumor ;  men  bawled  out  the  name 
of  Liberty  !  the  People !  the  palace  on  a  sudden  was  filled  with 
citizens,  youths,  arms,  and  confusion  ;  many  began,  as  if  they 
had  already  conquered,  to  lay  hands  on  the  signori ;  and  those 
citizens  were  threatened  who  did  not  say  and  do  as  this  disor 
derly  multitude  desired.  The  more  prudent  sort  of  persons, 
elder  and  younger,  endeavored  to  preserve  some  order,  and  pro 
posed  various  judicious  plans ;  but  the  uproar  was  too  great,  and 
violence  had  got  possession." 

The  detail  of  the  errors  and  disorders  is  too  long  to  be  recited; 
but  nothing  would  content  the  people  short  of  a  declaration  that 
the  Medici  were  rebels,  and  the  signori  were  compelled  to  this 
measure.  Even  Niccolo  Capponi,  and  his  colleagues,  who  were 
present  amidst  such  disorders  in  the  palace,  repented  of  the 
deceit  they  had  practised  that  day,  and  perceived  that  states, 
which  attempt  to  change  the  foundations  of  their  government 
by  means  of  popular  tumults,  though  they  may  sometimes  easily 
effect  the  alteration,  will  always  find  it  difficult  either  to  stop  or 
to  regulate  the  movements  of  the  people  ;  of  which  important 
truth  the  history  of  Florence  is  full  of  fatal  examples. 

"  The  cardinal  and  Hippolito,  receiving  intelligence  of  the 
tumults  in  Florence,  returned  with  Francis  Guicciardini,  and 
some  other  respectable  characters,  and  a  military  force.  They 
entered  into  an  accommodation  with  the  rioters,  and  restored 
the  government  of  the  Medici ;  they  made  a  new  imborsation 
of  the  signori,  and  imborsed  as  gonfalonier,  in  1527,  Francesco 
Antonio  Nori,  changed  some  of  the  signori  for  persons  less  sus 
pected,  and  took  every  prudent  measure  to  secure  the  peace  of 
the  city.  But  such  was  the  danger,  that  many  absented  them 
selves  through  fear,  not  believing  that  the  pope  would  pardon 
their  behavior.  The  city  was  in  great  confusion,  suspicion, 
and  dissatisfaction. 

"  At  this  time  the  army  turned  towards  Rome,  which,  on  the 
sixth  of  May,  1527,  was  sacked  by  the  French  in  their  turn,  and 
the  pope  was  again  shut  up  a  prisoner  in  the  castle.  Philip 
Strozzi  flew  to  Florence  with  the  news  of  the  ruin  of  the  pope, 
and  began  to  promote  a  change  in  the  government ;  and  his 


FLORENCE.  147 

lady,  Clarissa,*  the  daughter  of  Peter  de1  Medici,  sister  of  the 
Duke  Lorenzo,  very  gravely  and  boldly  said  to  the  Cardinal  Cor- 
tona  and  Hippolito,  that  they  ought  to  fly  from  Florence,  and 
leave  the  city  and  republic  free  to  the  citizens. 

"  Upon  this  return  of  Strozzi,  and  in  this  ruin  of  the  pope, 
Nicholas  Capponi,  Matthew  Strozzi.  and  Francis  Vettori,  and  all 
that  party  of  citizens  who  had  been  humbled  by  the  disorders 
of  the  twenty-sixth  of  April,  and  the  other  party,  who  were  in  the 
confidence  and  league  of  the  Medici,  seeing  the  pope  ruined  and  a 
prisoner,  and  no  hope  of  assistance,  gave  way  to  fortune  ;  some 
through  fear,  and  others  from  hopes  which  were  held  out  to  them 
by  those  citizens  who  desired  a  change  in  the  state,  and  the  ruin 
of  the  Medici.  Cardinal  Cortona,  finding  himself  in  such  afflic 
tion,  and  without  any  assignment  of  money,  because  Philip 
Strozzi,  who  was  at  that  time  depositary  of  the  signori,  sent  out 
of  Florence  Francesco  del  Nero,  his  deputy,  with  all  the  money 
which  had  been  collected,  a  movement  which  was  the  most  art 
ful  check  in  the  whole  game,  made  a  certain  capitulation  be 
tween  the  city  and  the  Medici,  and  went  out  of  Florence  with 
Cardinal  Cibo  and  the  Magnificent  Hippolito,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  May,  1527,  without  being  banished,  and  having  the  signori  still 
in  their  favor,  who  stood  firm  to  the  government  and  the  house 
of  Medici  to  the  last." 

After  their  departure  the  capitulation  was  not  observed,  and 
Cardinal  Ridolfi,  who  remained  in  Florence,  was  constrained  to 
depart.  In  a  short  time  a  popular  government  was  introduced, 
so  large  and  licentious,  that  Philip  Strozzi,  and  all  those  citizens 
who  had  such  an  inclination  to  the  change,  and  who  were  the 
heads  and  chiefs  of  the  plan  of  restoring  the  state  to  the  people, 
were  soon  treated  in  such  an  injurious  manner,  and  in  so  many 
ways  insulted,  that  those  who  incline  to  weep  over  the  follies 
and  vices  of  their  fellow-men,  will  have  incitements  enough  for 
their  tears  in  reading  the  story. 

*  See  her  speech  at  length  in  Segni,  p.  8.  Bisognava  prima,  che  in  tali  ter 
mini  si  fussino  condotte  le  cose,  governarsi  co'  cittadini  di  maniera,  che  ne'  peri- 
coli,  e  nelle  strettezze  vostre  vi  si  avessono  a  mantenere  amici,  e  in  fede,  siccome 
ne'  passati  tempi  si  governarono  gli  antichi  miei,  che  colla  gentilezza,  e  colla 
benevolenza  piti  che  coll'  asprezza,  e  col  timore,  si  mantenevano  fedeli  gli  animi 
de'  cittadini  Fiorentini,  e  poi  in  molti  loro  avversi  tempi  gli  ritrovarono  costanti; 
ma  voi,  che  coll'  usanze  del  viver  vostro  avete,  ancora  a  chi  nol  sapesse,  scoperto 
i  vostri  natali,  e  fatto  chiaro  a  tutto  il  mondo,  che  non  siete  del  sangue  de'  Medici 
(e  non  pure  di  voi  intendo,  ma  ancora  di  Clemente  indegnamente  Papa,  e  degna- 
mente  prigione)  che  vi  maravigliate  voi,  se  sete  oggi  in  questi  travagli,  ne'  quali 
avete  tutta  questa  citta  contraria  alia  vostra  grand  ez/,*  ? 


CHAPTER   THIRD. 

FLORENCE. 

THE  history  of  Segni,  which  was  intended  to  record  the  trans 
actions  of  the  republic  or  popular  state  from  1527  to  1550,  begins 
with  the  eighth  book  of  Nerli,  and  contains  a  circumstantial 
relation  of  every  particular.  This  same  Segni  has  written  the 
life  of  his  uncle  Niccolo  Capponi.  Varchi  too,  begins  his  his 
tory  about  the  same  time ;  so  that  this  period  is  well  described 
by  a  variety  of  historians. 

"After  the  resolution  taken  by  the  Cardinal  di  Cortona,  and 
the  principal  citizens  in  the  government,  to  resign  the  authority 
of  the  balia,  and  to  leave  the  state,  by  agreement,  liberally  in  the 
hands  of  the  people,  the  balia  assembled  on  the  sixteenth  of  May, 
1527,  and  the  provision  by  which  liberty  was  restored  to  the 
people,  and  the  government  wholly  conferred  upon  them,  by  the 
total  annihilation  of  the  balia,  was  received  with  great  joy.  But 
that,  in  so  great  a  revolution,  they  might  proceed  without  scan 
dal,  and  ordain  a  government,  free,  pacific,  and  quiet,  as,  perhaps, 
those  citizens,  who  were  the  principal  authors  of  the  change, 
and  had  been  so  zealous  for  it,  had  flattered  themselves  they 
might,  (although  very  different  effects  followed,  as  generally 
happens  to  those  who  place  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  are  the  instruments  of  changing  a  government,)  they 
began  by  giving  order  and  form  to  the  government,  that  is,  by  tak 
ing  the  power  into  their  own  hands,  instead  of  giving  it  up  to  the 
people.  They  gave  authority  .to  the  signori,  the  colleges,  and 
the  council  of  seventy,  and  to  the  members  of  the  balia,  to  make, 
as  well  as  they  could,  a  deputation  of  thirty  citizens  for  each 
quarter,  giving  a  convenient  share  to  the  minor  arts,  according  to 
the  classes  at  that  time  in  the  city  ;  and  they  ordered  that  such 
deputation  should  be  made  by  ballot,  among  the  signori,  council, 
magistrates ;  and  the  thirty  for  the  quarters,  who  were  thus  bal- 
lotted  for  by  the  greatest  popular  favor,  or,  in  other  words,  who 
had  the  most  black  votes,  should  be  understood  to  be  elected ; 
to  which  number  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  citizens,  together 
with  the  said  magistrates  and  counsellors,  should  be  given  full 


FLORENCE.  149 

authority  to  elect  all  officers,  meaning  such  as  had  been  usually 
made  by  the  council  of  a  hundred,  until  the  twentieth  of  June. 
All  other  officers  were  to  be  drawn  from  the  ordinary  purses  till 
the  same  day ;  after  which,  it  was  determined  that  the  council 
of  the  people,  called  the  greater*  council,  should  commence  its 
authority.  This  greater  council  was  arranged  to  have  the 
same  authority,  modes,  orders,  and  forms,  which  it  had  before 
1512,  but  with  certain  limitations  and  corrections.  The  new 
council  of  signori  collegi  were  to  be  one  hundred  and  twenty, 
the  supernumeraries  seventy,  and  the  balia  of  twenty,  to  whom 
was  given  authority  concerning  the  mode  of  making  the  new 
gonfalonier ;  and  the  council  of  eighty  was  revived  in  the  same 
form  as  before  1512.  Then,  in  the  abundance  of  their  gratitude 
to  the  Medici,  for  permitting  the  popular  government  to  be 
revived,  they  passed  an  indemnity  to  them  and  all  their  agents, 
and  forgave  Hippolito,  Alexander,  and  the  duchess,  daughter  of 
Lorenzo,  late  Duke  of  Urbino. 

"At  last  the  old  balia  was  annulled  ;  but  the  new  government 
had  scarcely  assembled,  before  fresh  dissensions  arose.f  Some 
were  against  observing  at  all  the  laws  made  as  now  related, 
especially  relative  to  the  greater  council ;  many,  without  waiting 
for  the  term  prescribed,  favored  the  assembling  this  council,  and 
acting  in  it ;  and  some  were  even  for  beginning  tumultuously, 
and  without  waiting  for  any  limitations  or  corrections,  and  with 
out  regarding  this  law  in  any  degree.  Many  others  were  for 
removing  the  signori  by  force  before  the  time,  though  by  the  law 
they  were  to  continue  the  month  of  June ;  and  because  the  pro 
vision  or  law  made  by  the  balia  for  peaceably  restoring  the  state 
to  the  people  was  not  observed,  as  indeed  it  was  not,  and 
because  the  concession  and  promise  made  by  the  Medici  was 
not  strictly  regarded,  it  was  given  out  that  they  were  returning 
with  force  to  recover  the  state  which  they  had  voluntarily  quitted, 
and  which  was  not  taken  from  them  by  force,  as  many  had  en 
deavored  in  vain  to  do  shortly  before  ;  and  many  false  rumors 
were  created,  propagated,  and  exaggerated,  to  terrify  and  con 
found  the  contending  parties.  These  at  last  divided  themselves 

*  Consiglio  maggiore. 

f  Dopo  quest!  ordini  cosi  dati,  cominciarono  molti  cittadini  a  dividers!  in  molti 
modi,  e  si  scopersero  molte  varie  sette,  et  niolte  varie  seditioni.  Nerli,  lib.  viii. 
p.  155. 

13* 


150  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

into  two  principal  factions ;  the  Strozzi,  Sodmni,  &c.  were  the 
heads  of  one,  and  Niccolo  Capponi  of  the  other.  They  had  a 
long  struggle  to  make  the  gonfalonier  resign,  and  get  posses 
sion  of  the  palace.  The  greater  council  was  brought  into  being 
and  action  before  the  time,  and  many  other  alterations  were 
made  about  the  choice  of  magistrates ;  but  a  tumult  in  the 
palace,  backed  by  all  the  persuasions  of  Capponi,  was  at  last 
effective  to  prevail  upon  the  gonfalonier  to  resign.  A  new 
gonfalonier  was  now  to  be  chosen,  and  new  regulations  con 
trived  for  the  election,  and  among  a  multitude  of  candidates, 
Niccolo  Capponi  was  chosen." 

Niccolo  Capponi  had  great  qualities ;  but  these  alone  were 
not  the  cause  of  his  elevation ;  it  was  indeed  the  secret  influ 
ence  of  the  Medici  interest  which  decided  the  election  in  his 
favor.  This  was  a  very  memorable  example  of  electioneering. 
It  resembles  in  so  many  of  its  outlines  all  other  elections,  which 
enter  into  the  essence  of  every  government  in  one  centre,  that  it 
is  very  interesting  to  every  free  citizen  to  consider  it  attentively. 
Sixty  electors  were  drawn  out  of  the  purse  of  the  grand  council, 
each  of  whom  was  to  nominate  a  citizen  of  fifty  years  of  age ; 
and  among  these  sixty  were  to  be  balloted  for,  in  the  greater 
council,  six  candidates  for  the  office  of  gonfalonier.  The  six 
who  upon  this  occasion  had  the  most  votes,  were  Carducci, 
Soderini,  A.  Strozzi,  Nero,  Bartolini,  and  Niccolo  Capponi. 
Each  of  these  candidates  had  his  distinct  principles,  system, 
and  party.  In  favor  of  Carducci  were  all  that  part  of  the  citi 
zens  who  most  dreaded  and  hated  the  Medici,  who  wished  for  a 
licentious  government,  through  which  they  could  be  revenged,  by 
beating  down  every  citizen  who,  under  the  government  of  the 
Medici,  had  any  reputation,  influence,  or  power.  In  Strozzi 
concurred  a  part  of  the  same  citizens,  for  the  same  reasons ;  but 
their  ardor  for  him  was  cooled  by  the  recollection  of  the  part  he 
had  formerly  acted  against  Savonarola  in  1498.  In  Soderini 
united  all  those  citizens  who  loved  a  government  both  free  and 
quiet,  such  as  that  which  prevailed  from  1502  to  1512,  when 
Peter  Soderini  was  gonfalonier  for  life.  The  party  of  Medici 
were  united  to  a  man  against  him ;  with  all  other  parties  he 
was  upon  tolerable  terms.  And  this  is  not  only  natural,  but  it 
is  universally  found  in  experience,  that  the  monarchical  party  is 
most  averse,  in  such  conjunctures,  to  the  aristocratical,  and  gene- 


FLORENCE.  151 

rally  coalesces  with  the  democratical,  as  these  did  upon  this 
occasion  in  the  choice  of  Capponi.  The  partisans  of  Nero  and 
Bartolini  were  those  only  who  hated  all  men  who  had  ever  held 
any  place  in  government,  and  wished  for  such  as  were  entirely 
new.  Amidst  so  many  competitors  and  such  a  variety  of  par 
ties  and  views,  Capponi  was  elected,  though  he  had  held  offices 
of  high  trust  and  confidence  under  the  Medici.  He  had  in  the 
whole  course  of  his  life,  public  and  private,  been  a  wise,  liberal, 
and  irreproachable  citizen  ;  the  reputation  of  his  father  and  his 
ancestors  had  early  rendered  him  illustrious  ;  he  had  as  much 
resolution  as  he  had  ambition,  and  had  maintained  the  charac 
ter  of  an  honest  man  with  all ;  that  of  a  free  republican  with 
the  popular  party,  and  that  of  a  man  of  honor  and  fidelity  with 
the  Medici  themselves,  who  unanimously  fell  in  with  his  views 
in  the  election. 

"  Naturam  expellas  furca,  tamen  usque  recurret." 

The  dominant  party  will,  in  general,  in  this  manner  prevail, 
though  their  leaders  are  in  banishment,  and  even  though 
excluded  by  law.  Capponi  had  married  a  daughter  of  Philip 
Strozzi,  and  this  union  of  their  families,  and  even  the  diversity 
of  their  characters,*  had  contributed  to  increase  the  influence  of 
the  former.  After  the  election  of  the  gonfalonier,  they  proceeded 
to  the  choice  of  the  signori  for  three  months.  Thus  the  party 
of  Capponi  carried  their  point,  and  accomplished  all  this  weighty 
business  by  the  first  of  June,  against  the  regulation  that  the  old 
signori  should  continue  through  the  month. 

"  One  of  the  first  steps  taken  under  the  new  government,  was 
an  appointment,  by  a  plurality  of  votes  in  the  greater  council,  of 
five  citizens,  under  the  title  of  syndics  of  the  commons,  to 
examine  the  accounts  of  all  those  who  had  handled  the  public 
money  or  other  property  from  the  year  1512.  This  was  an 
invention  of  revenge  and  jealousy,  to  destroy  all  the  friends  and 

*  L'integrita  della  vita,  la  temperanza,  la  severita,  la  parsimonia  in  allevar  la 
famiglia  ferono  resplendere  Niccolo  sopra  d'ogn'  altro  per  dignita,  e  per  un  vivo 
esempio  di  virtu  :  quando  in  Filippo  un  modo  di  vivere  sciolto,  P  incontinenza,  la 
piacevolezza,  la  grazia,  la  destrezza  nel  trattenere  gli  uomini,  la  liberalita,  la 
licenza,  la  concessione  di  se  stesso  fatta  ora  alia  virtu,  ora  al  vizio,  ebbe  forza  di 
farlo  amar  sempre  dalla  gioventu,  riverire  dalla  nobilta,  e  accarezzare  dal  popolo, 
di  tal  maniera,  che  sebbene  viveva  in  privata  fortuna,  era  nondimeno  come  un 
principe.  Varchi,  lib.  iii.  p.  63;  Segni,  Storie,  lib.  i.  p.  12;  Vita  di  Niccolo 
Capponi,  p.  2. 


152  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

instruments  of  the  Medici ;  and  many  other  schemes  of  persecu 
tion  against  the  party  of  Medici  were  contrived  without  the 
smallest  discretion,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  endeavors  of  Capponi 
and  Philip  Strozzi  to  prevent  them.  Among  other  schemes  of 
persecution,  the  most  tyrannical  imaginable,  which  this  domi 
nant  party  now  triumphant,  practised  against  the  minor  party, 
was,  at  a  time  when  a  sum  of  money,  (thirty  thousand  crowns,) 
was  wanted  by  the  public,  to  make  a  law  that  twenty  citizens 
should  be  elected,  who  should  be  compelled  to  lend  the  public 
fifteen  thousand  crowns  each." 

Such  is  the  sense  of  liberty  and  the  sacred  regard  to  property 
in  a  government  in  one  centre  ! 

"  This  popular  tyranny  was  carried  to  an  excess  so  intolerable, 
that  Philip  Strozzi,  the  very  father  of  the  revolution,  was  obliged 
to  fly  to  Naples,  though  his  brother-in-law  was  gonfalonier ;  but 
returning  some  time  after  with  Buondelmonti,  they  were  both 
imprisoned  for  four  years  in  the  tower  of  Volterra,  for  making 
opposition  to  the  new  iniquitous  taxes  and  the  administration 
of  the  syndics.  Acciaioli  too,  who  was  then  returned  from  his 
embassy  in  France,  was  imprisoned  for  being  in  arrear  for  part 
of  a  subsidy  which  they  had  imposed  upon  him,  not  only  with 
out  equity,  but  beyond  his  ability.  The  gonfalonier  could 
make  no  resistance  to  this  popular  fury,  which  had  now  got  the 
ascendant ;  the  great  council  and  their  three  months'  men,  the 
signori,  governed  without  control ;  and  because  they  could  not 
glut  their  vengeance  upon  the  persons  of  the  Medici,  they  took 
the  images  in  wax  of  the  popes  Leo  X.  and  Clement  VIL,  and 
scourged  and  destroyed  them  ;  and  the  magistrates  themselves 
were  supposed  to  have  excited  the  youths  who  were  guilty  of 
this  outrage,  so  indecent  in  a  catholic  city  ;  at  least  no  measures 
were  taken  to  suppress  or  to  punish  the  rioters.  An  order  was 
given  by  the  magistrates,  the  eight  of  the  balia,  that  the  arms 
and  ensigns  of  the  Medici  should  be  taken  down  in  every  place 
in  the  city  and  country,  public  and  private,  even  in  the  private 
houses  of  the  family,  even  from  the  monuments  over  their 
tombs." 

All  this  was  done,  and  many  other  invasions  of  their  private 
property  committed,  in  direct  contempt  of  the  capitulation  made 
with  Cardinal  Cortona  and  the  Magnificent  Hippolito,  when 
they  resigned  the  authority  of  their  balia,  and  voluntarily  left  the 


FLORENCE.  153 

state  to  the  people.  It  is  astonishing  that  the  people  themselves 
should  not  have  recollected  that  this  courage  had  come  into 
their  hearts  only  from  the  present  calamity  of  the  pope,  which 
might  soon  be  at  an  end,  and  themselves  made  to  feel  the  conse 
quences  of  their  present  folly  ;  but  in  such  a  tumult  of  popular 
passions  there  is  never  any  reflection,  prudence,  or  foresight. 
All  these  things  happened  in  the  first  months  of  the  new  govern 
ment,  while  the  pope  was  in  the  power  of  the  imperialists,  a 
prisoner  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo.  The  plague  was  now  in 
Florence,  and  it  was  difficult  to  assemble  the  councils,  especially 
the  greater  council ;  a  law  was  therefore  made,  that  for  the  crea 
tion  of  officers  and  the  expedition  of  private  petitions,  the  num 
ber  of  the  greater  council  necessary  to  be  present  should  be  only 
four  hundred  ;  but  for  the  creation  of  the  signori,  the  colleges, 
the  ten  of  war,  and  the  eight  of  the  balia,  the  number  of  eight 
hundred  must  be  full,  as  well  as  at  the  passing  of  new  laws  and 
the  imposition  of  new  taxes. 

"  In  December,  the  pope  accommodated  his  affairs  with  the 
emperor,  obtained  his  liberty,  and  retired  to  Orvieto  for  his 
greater  security.  This  event  increased  the  number  of  opponents 
to  the  present  government  in  Florence,  and  again  brought  into 
reputation  those  who  had  enjoyed  it  under  the  Medici.  Two 
factions  now  broke  out  in  the  city.  The  rivals  of  Capponi 
began  to  raise  their  heads,  and  endeavored  to  render  unpopular 
not  only  the  friends  of  the  Medici,  but  Capponi  and  all  those 
who  had  endeavored  to  unite  all  parties  for  the  general  tranquil 
lity.  Carducci,  A.  Strozzi,  and  Soderini,  now  formed  a  trium 
virate,  at  the  head  of  one  faction,  against  Capponi  and  his 
adherents  ;  and  the  young  men  and  more  active  partisans  of 
each  side  armed  themselves,  both  under  the  pretence  of  defend 
ing  the  palace.  This  guard,  thus  composed  of  two  parties, 
could  not  be  united,  and  gave  much  trouble  to  the  gonfalonier. 
The  pope  at  this  time  made  Hippolito  a  cardinal.  A  satirical 
libel  was  composed,  printed  at  Siena,  and  scattered  all  over 
Florence,  in  which  a  picture  was  drawn  of  such  a  gonfalonier  as 
would  be  suitable  to  the  present  conjuncture  ;  but  it  was  in  all 
things  opposite  to  the  character  of  Capponi,  and  very  much 
resembled  Carducci.  This  device  excited  much  licentious  con 
versation  in  the  city  against  Capponi,  and  many  projects  of  a 
new  gonfalonier  at  the  approaching  election. 


154  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  These  canvassings  drove  Capponi  to  a  curious  expedient  to 
obtain  his  election.  He  had  always  maintained  a  good  character 
with  the  friends  of  Savonarola  the  Prophet,  and  in  this  time  of 
the  plague  all  men  were  seriously  inclined,  and  the  superstitious 
began  again  to  be  frantic.  Niccolo  took  an  opportunity,  in  the 
greater  council,  to  make  an  oration  upon  the  times,  in  which,  by 
the  aid  of  a  retentive  memory,  he  repeated,  almost  word  for  word, 
one  of  the  most  terrible  sermons  of  Savonarola,  which  predicted 
so  many  scourges  to  Italy  and  to  Florence,  and,  after  so  much 
destruction,  such  felicity  to  the  Florentine  people ;  and  endea 
vored  to  show  that  the  times  thus  predicted  were  arrived.  In 
the  course  of  his  harangue  he  wrought  himself  up  to  a  fervor  of 
enthusiasm,  fell  upon  his  knees  before  the  whole  assembly,  and 
cried  with  a  loud  voice  to  God  Almighty  for  mercy.  His  enthu 
siasm  spread  like  a  contagion,  and  the  whole  assembly  fell  upon 
their  knees  after  his  example,  and  cried  out,  with  a  voice  like 
thunder,  '  Misericordia ! '  as  they  had  been  used  sometimes  to  do 
when  attending  some  of  the  most  dreadful  of  Savonarola's  lec 
tures  ;  and  to  complete  his  artifice,  or  his  frenzy,  he  persuaded 
the  people,  in  commemoration  of  the  tribulations,  chastisements, 
and  judgments  of  God,  and  the  better  to  secure  the  felicity  pro 
mised  by  Savonarola,  that  they  ought  to  elect,  for  the  peculiar 
king  of  the  people  of  Florence,  Jesus  the  Redeemer;  and,  as 
Savonarola  had  said  in  some  of  his  sermons,  that  they  ought  to 
bear  the  ensigns  of  Christ,  and  the  glorious  name  of  Jesus,  over 
the  gates  of  the  palace.  The  proposition  was  made  in  council, 
as  soon  as  the  gonfalonier  had  finished  his  oration,  that  Christ 
should  be  their  king,  because,  according  to  St.  Paul,  God  had 
constituted  him  heir  of  all  things ;  and  Nerli,  who  says  he  was 
present  among  so  many  hundreds  of  citizens,  declares,  that  there 
were  not  more  than  twenty*  white  beans,  or  votes,  against  the 
proposition,  when  it  was  determined  by  ballot.  Capponi,  by  this 
proceeding,  made  such  an  impression  upon  all  orders,  and  gained 
so  many  partisans,  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  combinations  of 

*  Ultimamente  fece  passare  una  provisione  nel  consiglio  grande,  sopra  di  tutte 
P  altre  notabilissima  in  questo  genere  di  pieta,  per  la  quale  fu  eletto  Gesil  Cristo 
Signer  nostro  per  Re  della  citta  nostra,  con  tutti  i  suff'ragi  di  quel  popolo,  eccetto 
che  di  26,  che  tal  decreto  non  appro varono.  Era  1  titolo  di  questa  legge  scritto 
sopra  la  porta  del  palazzo  de'  signori,  in  lettere  d'  oro,  che  dicevano  YHS 
X1JS  Rex  popuh  Flor.  SP  QF  consensu  declaratus,  anno,  mense,  die.  Varchi, 
p.  122.  Segni,  Vila  di  Capponi,  p.  10. 


FLORENCE.  155 

the  families  of  his  competitors,  he  carried  his  election  in  June, 
1528. 

"  In  this  year  the  pope's  profound  projects,*  hitherto  concealed 
with  great  art,  began  to  be  discovered.  An  ardent  desire  of 
restoring  to  his  family  their  grandeur  in  Florence  was  deeply 
rankling  in  his  mind ;  yet,  by  an  hypocrisy  too  natural  to  that, 
as  well  as  every  other  kind  of  ambition,  he  endeavored,  by  public 
declarations,  in  the  most  unequivocal  terms,  to  persuade  the 
Florentines  that  nothing  was  further  from  his  thoughts ;  that  he 
only  desired  the  republic  to  acknowledge  him  as  pontiff',  as  all 
other  princes  and  sovereigns  had  done,  and  that  they  would  not 
persecute  his  connections  in  their  private  affairs,  nor  take  away 
the  ensigns  and  ornaments  which  belonged  to  his  family.  With 
a  commission  to  this  purpose,  he  had  sent  a  Florentine  prelate 
as  his  ambassador  to  Florence ;  but  as  he  had  not  obtained  an 
audience,  he  solicited,  through  the  medium  of  the  King  of 
France,  that  they  would  send  an  embassy  to  him,  earnestly 
endeavoring  to  remove  all  their  suspicions,  and,  by  all  appear 
ances  of  candor,  frankness,  and  familiarity  in  his  dealings  with 
them,  to  dispose  them  to  fall  in  with  his  insidious  designs.  As 
all  these  devices  proved  unsuccessful,  he  exerted  himself  to  per 
suade  Lautrec,  that  as  those  who  governed  in  Siena  were  depend 
ents  on  the  emperor,  it  would  be  useful  to  his  affairs  to  restore 
Fabio  Petrucci  to  that  city ;  but  Lautrec,  from  the  opposition  of 
the  Florentines,  would  not  engage  in  it.  Failing  in  this  way,  he 
labored  in  secret  with  Pirro,  who  complained  of  grievances  against 
the  Sienese,  that  with  eight  hundred  men,  and  some  exiles  from 
Chiusi,  he  should  seize  upon  that  territory,  and  endeavor  by  that 
means  to  govern  Siena ;  but  the  Florentines  insinuating  to  the 
French  ambassador,  the  Viscount  de  Turenne,  that  the  pope 
aimed  at  nothing  but  disturbing  Florence  by  the  means  of  Siena, 
the  ambassador  persuaded  him  to  give  up  the  movement  to 
Chiusi. 

"  Capponi,  the  gonfalonier,  held  at  this  timef  a  correspondence 
with  the  pope  by  means  of  Jacopo  Salviati,  by  which  the  pope 
intended,  in  time  and  with  patience,  to  overcome  all  difficulties, 
and  obtain  the  restoration  of  his  family ;  but  the  gonfalonier 
intended  only  to  amuse  the  pope,  and  prevent  him  from  under- 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  xix.     Nerli,  lib.  viii.  p.  172.  t  Nerli,  p.  173. 


156  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

taking  any  enterprise  against  the  city  with  force.  Thus  both 
parties  hoped  to  gain  the  advantage  of  time.  Capponi  gave 
hopes  to  the  pope  that  the  city  might  be  disposed  to  agree  with 
him,  as  they  had  been  used  to  do  with  other  pontiffs,  provided 
his  holiness  would  content  himself  to  leave  it  in  the  quiet  enjoy 
ment  of  its  liberty.  This  correspondence,  though  conducted  with 
secrecy,  to  avoid  suspicion,  was  communicated,  however,  to 
several  of  the  first  citizens  in  the  government.  Jacopo  Alamanni, 
though  he  knew  the  correspondence  was  conducted  with  the 
privity  of  the  government  and  for  the  good  of  the  state,  was 
excited  by  the  competitors  of  the  gonfalonier  to  seize  with  vio 
lence  Serragli,  who  had  been  sent  by  Salviati  upon  the  business, 
and  a  great  clamor  was  excited  against  the  gonfalonier ;  fresh 
libels  were  published,  and  old  ones  reprinted;  the  young  men 
were  again  excited  tumultuously  to  demand  arms,  ensigns,  and 
officers  to  be  elected  by  themselves ;  and  the  triumvirate  prevailed 
so  far  as  to  have  a  new  ordinance  for  the  militia,  by  which  an 
imborsation  should  be  made  of  the  young  soldiers,  and  a  number 
drawn  from  time  to  time,  to  keep  the  guard  of  the  palace. 

"  This  was  no  better  than  making  the  government  prisoners  to 
the  opposition.  Alamanni  at  length  proceeded  to  such  violence, 
tumult,  and  outrage  against  the  gonfalonier,  that  the  signori, 
who  were  authorized  by  the  greater  council  to  defend  the  palace, 
were  obliged,  in  order  to  suppress  this  armed  sedition,  to  order 
him  to  be  seized.  He  attempted  to  fly,  but  was  made  prisoner, 
condemned,  and  beheaded.  This  punishment  excited  fresh  cla 
mors  against  the  gonfalonier,  especially  among  the  young  soldiers, 
who  now  reproached  their  own  leaders,  the  triumvirate,  although 
they  had  secretly  stimulated  the  offence,  for  having  concurred  in 
the  sentence.  Perhaps  to  remove  Carducci  and  Strozzi  out  of 
the  way  of  giving  farther  disturbance  to  the  government,  the  first 
was  appointed  ambassador  to  France,  and  the  second  to  Venice. 
Both  declined  the  employment;  as  the  laws  would  not  per 
mit  any  citizen  to  renounce  an  embassy  without  alleging  just 
impediments,  to  be  approved  by  the  signori  and  colleges,  they 
applied  to  be  excused ;  but  their  reasons  were  not  admitted,  and 
they  fell  under  the  punishment  of  admonition  and  other  heavy 
penalties.  Their  arguments  before  the  signori  and  colleges  only 
served  still  more  to  divide  and  distract  the  public  councils.  At 
last  Carducci  went  to  France,  much  against  his  will,  but  Strozzi 


FLORENCE.  157 

was  condemned  and  admonished ;  and  this  again  alienated  many 
friends  from  the  gonfalonier,  and  still  further  weakened  his  party. 

But  many  grew  weary  of  the  endless  confusions  and  anxie 
ties  arising  from  this  government  in  one  centre,  and  that  centre 
the  nation.  Those  who  had  been  in  reputation  in  the  time  of 
the  Medici  began  to  recover  credit,  and  the  faction  of  the  trium 
virate  lost  ground.  "  The  young  men,  too,  were  divided,  some 
warmly  attached  to  the  gonfalonier,  and  others  as  zealous  against 
him,  especially  those  who  resented  the  punishment  of  Alamanni. 
The  gonfalonier,  trusting  to  a  good  conscience  and  upright  inten 
tions,  proceeded  in  his  negotiations  with  the  pope,  with  the  par 
ticipation  of  his  principal  colleagues  in  government ;  and  this  he 
thought  the  more  necessary,  since  the  ruin  of  the  French  army 
near  Naples  made  him  suspect  that  the  pope  would  reconcile 
himself  with  the  emperor;  and  indeed  the  pope  at  this  time,* 
under  a  countenance  of  exquisite  dissimulation,  had  all  his 
thoughts  taken  up  with  the  recovery  of  the  government  of  Flo 
rence,  still  amusing  the  French  ambassadors  and  the  other  con 
federates  with  various  negotiations,  and  specious  hopes  of  his 
adhering  to  the  league.  Nevertheless,  moved  partly  by  the  dread 
of  the  grandeur  of  the  emperor,  and  the  success  of  his  enterprises, 
and  partly  by  the  hopes  of  inducing  him  more  easily  than  he 
could  the  King  of  France  to  assist  him  in  the  restoration  of  his 
family  to  Florence,  he  had  a  stronger  inclination  to  the  emperor 
than  to  the  king.  To  facilitate  this  design,  he  moreover  most 
earnestly  desired  to  draw  to  his  devotion  the  state  of  Perugia ; 
to  which  end  he  was  believed  to  have  stimulated  Braccio  Bag- 
lioni,  who  constantly  attempted  new  disturbances  in  that  neigh 
borhood. 

"  In  this  conjuncture,  a  fresh  altercation  happened  in  Florence, 
to  the  great  misfortune  of  the  government,!  excited  against  Cap- 
poni,  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  his  magistracy,  principally 
by  the  envy  of  some  of  the  principal  citizens,  who  availed  them 
selves  of  the  jealousies  and  ignorance  of  the  multitude.  The 
gonfalonier,  in  all  his  administration,  as  well  as  in  his  correspond 
ence,  had  two  principal  points  in  view ;  to  defend  against  fresh 
attacks  of  envy  or  resentment  those  who  had  been  placed  in 
honor  by  the  Medici,  and  even  to  communicate  to  them,  in  com- 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  xix.  p.  170,  edit.  Venet.  1574.     Nerli,  p.  170. 
f  Guicciardini,  lib.  xix.     Nerli,  p.  179. 
VOL.  V.  14 


158  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

mon  with  the  other  citizens,  the  honors  and  councils  of  the  public ; 
and,  in  things  of  no  moment  to  liberty,  not  to  exasperate  the  spirit 
of  the  pope.  These  points  were  both  of  great  utility  to  the  re 
public;  because  many  of  those  who  had  been  persecuted  as  ene 
mies  of  the  government,  finding  themselves  in  safety,  would  have 
joined  heartily  with  the  others  to  defend  it;  and  because  the 
pontiff,  though  he  eagerly  desired  the  return  of  his  family,  would, 
if  no  fresh  provocations  \vere  given  him,  have  less  incitements  to 
precipitation,  and  less  grounds  for  those  complaints  he  was  con 
tinually  making  to  other  princes.  But  the  ambition  of  many 
was  opposed  to  this  policy,  who,  knowing  that  they  should  be 
farther  from  a  share  in  the  government,  or  have  less  influence  in 
it,  if  the  friends  of  the  Medici,  men  undoubtedly  of  more  expe 
rience  and  merit,  were  in  it,  minded  no  other  business  than  that 
of  filling  the  multitude  with  suspicions  of  the  pope  and  his  party, 
and  calumniating  the  gonfalonier,  as  not  having  a  sufficient 
hatred  against  the  Medici,  that  he  might  not  obtain  the  prolonga 
tion  of  his  magistracy  for  the  third  year.  Capponi,  unmoved  at 
these  slanders,  and  thinking  it  very  necessary  that  the  pope  should 
not  be  provoked,  entertained  him  with  letters  and  private  mes 
sages,  as  before  related ;  a  practice  which  was  begun  and  conti 
nued  with  the  knowledge  and  approbation  of  the  principal  citizens 
in  administration,  and  with  no  other  end  than  to  divert  the  pope 
from  taking  some  violent  measures. 

"As  fortune  would  have  it,  having  dropped  by  accident  and 
incautiously  in  the  council-chamber  a  letter  from  Rome,  in  which 
were  some  words  capable  of  exciting  suspicion  in  such  as  were 
uninformed  of  the  original  and  foundation  of  the  correspondence, 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Jacopo  Gherardi,  one  of  those  who  had 
seats  in  the  supreme  council,  and  were  most  bitter  against  the 
gonfalonier;  certain  seditious  young  men  rose  in  arms  and 
seized  the  palace,  retaining  the  gonfalonier  in  custody,  and  call 
ing  together  the  magistrates  and  a  multitude  of  citizens,  tumult- 
uously  deliberated  and  resolved  that  he  should  be  deprived  of 
his  office  ;  *  which  decision  was  confirmed  by  the  larger  council. 
Capponi  was  rendered  incapable  ;  and  it  was  ordained  that  the 
gonfalonier  should  be  for  the  future  but  for  one  year,  and  that 
his  salary  should  be  reduced  one  half.  The  opposition  of  the 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  xix.     Nerli,  p.  180. 


FLORENCE.  159 

triumvirate  had  so  turned  the  brains  of  the  people  by  their 
intrigues,  that  a  great  change  was  made  in  the  government,  and 
Francesco  Carducci,  a  man  proved  by  his  past  life,  by  his  condi 
tion,  and  his  depraved  views,  to  be  unworthy  of  so  great  an 
honor,  was  chosen  in  his  place.  Capponi  was  brought  to  his 
trial,  and  defended  himself  with  such  eloquence  and  ability,  and 
showed  so  clearly  that  his  conduct,  instead  of  being  criminal, 
had  been  dictated  by  the  principal  persons  in  government,  and 
merely  for  the  public  good,  that  he  was  acquitted  with  honor, 
and  accompanied  home  to  his  palace  by  almost  all  the  nobility. 

"  Upon  the  privation  of  Capponi,  the  pope  no  longer  enter 
taining  any  hopes  but  from  force,  sent  the  Archbishop  of  Capua 
in  great  haste  to  the  emperor,  and,  as  Capponi  had  foreseen, 
agreed  to  almost  any  terms  that  were  demanded  of  him,  in  con 
sideration  of  having  his  family  restored  to  Florence,  and  a  natu 
ral  daughter  of  the  emperor  given  in  marriage  to  his  nephew 
Alexander  de'  Medici,  the  son  of  Lorenzo,  late  Duke  of  Urbino. 
Him  the  pope  intended  to  invest  with  the  secular  grandeur  of 
his  house,  because,  some  time  before,  when  he  was  sick  and  in 
danger  of  death,  he  had  made  Hippolito,  the  son  of  Giuliano,  a 
cardinal.  The  emperor  stipulated  to  give  twenty  thousand 
ducats  a  year  with  his  daughter,  and  to  reinstate  the  pope  in  the 
possession  of  Cervia,  Ravenna,  Modena,  Reggio,  and  Rubiera. 
And  thus,  by  their  continual  factions  and  divisions,  the  citizens 
of  Florence  found  they  had  disgusted  both  the  King  of  France 
and  the  emperor.  Thus  it  usually  happens,  when  small  repub 
lics  and  petty  princes  intermeddle  in  the  wars  of  great  monarchs  ; 
the  one  in  alliance  thinks  himself  ill  served,  while  the  other,  who 
is  in  enmity,  is  most  grievously  offended,  and  vows  revenge."  * 

The  particulars  of  the  negotiations  at  Cambray ;  the  contra 
dictory  representations  of  their  two  ambassadors,  Carducci  and 
Cavalcanti,  who  were  of  different  parties  ;  the  propositions  of  an 
accommodation  with  the  emperor,  made  by  the  Prince  Doria 
through  Louis  Alamanni,  and  the  rejection  of  them  by  the  influ 
ence  of  Francesco  Carducci,  the  new  gonfalonier,  and  those  citi 
zens  who  were  most  jealous  of  the  Medici  and  their  party,  are 
too  tedious  to  relate,  though  they  were  rejected,  and  conse 
quently  the  republic  ruined,  by  the  confused  method  of  treating 

*  Nerli,  p.  184. 


160  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

of  foreign  affairs  in  a  numerous  and  mixed  assembly,  according 
to  the  new  constitution. 

"  The  emperor  now  arrived  in  person  from  Spain,  and  all  the 
states  of  Italy  sent  ambassadors  to  pay  him  their  respects, 
except  Florence.  The  triumvirate,  with  their  new  gonfalonier, 
were  afraid  that  either  some  of  the  old  friends  of  the  Medici,  or 
some  of  the  friends  of  Capponi,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
middle  or  neutral  party,  as  it  was  called,  would  be  sent,  and  by 
this  means  come  again  into  reputation  ;  to  prevent  which  they 
not  only  risked  the  emperor's  resentment,  but  deprived  them 
selves  of  the  means  of  obtaining  intelligence  of  any  intrigue  that 
might  be  begun  between  the  pope  and  him.  They  set  on  foot, 
however,  in  order,  as  it  was  pretended,  to  unite  the  citizens,  a 
subscription  and  an  oath,  to  maintain  the  present  popular 
government.  But  although  the  subscription  was  publicly 
opened  in  a  book  in  the  greater  council,  many  respectable 
citizens  would  not  subscribe,  as  they  knew  it  to  be  impossible  to 
unite  the  citizens  cordially  in  such  a  plan.  The  animosities  of 
party  grew  warmer,  and  Pazzi,  a  friend  of  Capponi,  of  a  very 
respectable  character,  was  accused  of  uttering  seditious  words. 
The  prosecution  occasioned  great  heat.  Pazzi  was  tried  and 
acquitted,  and  Rinieri  would  have  been  imprisoned  for  his  false 
accusation,  if  the  gonfalonier  and  his  party  had  not  screened  him 
from  justice.  In  this  manner  did  the  gonfalonier,  to  increase  his 
authority,  and  to  make  himself  feared,  seek  every  opportunity, 
and  employ  every  means,  to  depress  his  adversaries  ;  and  if  he 
had  succeeded  against  Pazzi,  he  intended  to  have  pursued  others 
with  still  greater  animosity. 

"About  the  middle  of  August,  the  emperor  arrived  in  Genoa, 
and  all  the  rest  of  Italy  sending  him  ambassadors,  a  fresh  effort 
was  made  in  Florence ;  and,  as  it  could  not  now  be  prevented, 
the  gonfalonier  conceived  another  device  to  defeat  it.  He  pre 
vailed  to  have  the  powers  and  instructions  so  confined,  especially 
against  agreeing  with  the  pope,  that  they  could  obtain  no  other 
answer  from  the  emperor  than,  '  First  accommodate  your  affairs 
with  his  holiness.'  But  this  was  not  all  the  evil.  In  such 
governments  nothing  can  be  done  with  any  degree  of  satisfac 
tion  to  the  public,  but  by  gratifying  every  party  ;  if  one  clamor 
ous  faction  is  left  to  excite  a  cry,  all  is  confusion.  Upon  this 
occasion  four  ambassadors  had  been  appointed,  Strozzi,  Cap- 


FLORENCE.  161 

poni,  Soderini,  and  Girolami,  who  could  no  more  agree  among 
themselves  than  with  the  emperor  or  the  pope.  They  could 
never  agree  in  writing  their  despatches.  Soderini  and  Girolami, 
to  maintain  their  city  in  the  French  interest  and  in  its  obstinacy 
not  to  agree  with  the  pope  in  any  manner,  would  not  concur 
with  Strozzi  and  Capponi  in  writing  clearly  and  plainly  what 
the  emperor  had  said  to  them. 

"  In  September,  the  united  armies  of  the  pope  and  the  empe 
ror  resolved  on  taking  possession  of  Perugia,  and  the  pope 
gave  notice  to  Malatesta  Baglioni  to  depart  from  that  city. 
Malatesta  demanded  of  Florence  men  and  money  to  defend  it. 
In  order  to  give  the  most  pointed  offence  to  the  pope,  and  to 
make  their  defiance  the  more  conspicuous,  they  affected  to 
extend  it  not  only  to  his  person,  but  to  the  pontifical  see. 
They  resolved  to  send  three  thousand  men  to  the  aid  of  Mala 
testa,  to  prevent  the  church  from  recovering  one  of  its  prin 
cipal  territories.  But,  with  all  this  assistance,  Malatesta  was 
driven  out  of  Perugia,  and  marched  to  Florence,  in  consequence 
of  an  order  from  the  gonfalonier,  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
signori  or  council  of  ten,  and  against  their  judgments  as  well 
as  the  general  sense  of  the  citizens,  who  almost  unanimously 
desired  an  accommodation  with  the  pope.  A  clamor  now  arose 
against  the  gonfalonier  and  his  friends,  which  obliged  them  to 
call  to  council  many  citizens  of  the  other  parties,  whom  they 
had  long  neglected,  who  carried  a  resolution  to  send  other 
ambassadors  to  the  pope,  with  more  ample  powers  of  accommo 
dation.  But  the  gonfalonier,  by  delaying  the  commission,  had 
subtlety  enough  to  defeat  this  resolution,  although  it  had  been 
taken  with  very  general  satisfaction  ;  and  he  proceeded  to  take 
measures  for  the  defence  of  the  city  against  the  confederated 
army.  Many  of  the  principal  citizens,  alarmed  at  these  delays, 
harangued  freely  in  council  in  favor  of  an  accommodation ;  but 
these  were  insulted  in  the  street  by  the  youth  of  the  gonfalonier's 
party,  for  their  freedom  of  speech  in  council.  This  occasioned  a 
public  complaint  and  so  much  general  indignation  that  the  gon 
falonier  was  obliged  to  give  way  and  despatch  the  ambassadors 
with  full  powers ;  but  he  had  still  the  art  to  delay  the  delibera 
tions  in  council  upon  the  terms  of  accommodation.  The  ambas 
sadors  met  with  some  difficulty  to  find  the  pope,  and  could  not 
agree  among  themselves.  Soderini  went  to  Lucca ;  Strozzi  to 
14*  K 


162  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Venice ;  Capponi  resolved  to  return  to  Florence,  and  labor 
openly  and  decidedly  to  persuade  his  fellow-citizens  into  an 
accommodation,  and  Girolami  returned  to  oppose  him.*  Cap 
poni  was  taken  sick,  and  died  at  Garfagnana  ; 1  Girolami  there 
fore  had  a  larger  field  opened  to  his  f  ambition  to  be  gonfalonier, 
to  which  end  he  accommodated  his  discourse  variously  to  differ 
ent  parties  of  the  citizens  ;  from  those  whom  he  knew  to  be 
desirous  of  peace,  he  disguised  his  sentiments,  and  concealed  his 
late  conduct ;  to  the  neutral  party  he  proposed  that  the  city 
should  stand  upon  its  defence  and  make  the  best  preparations 
for  it,  but  be  ready  to  receive,  or  even  to  propose,  any  reasonable 
terms  of  accommodation  on  the  first  favorable  opportunity  ;  but 
with  the  faction  of  the  gonfalonier,  knowing  their  resolution  to 
be  fixed  to  see  the  city  perish  rather  than  yield  to  any  accommo 
dation,  he  opened  himself  in  private  without  reserve,  and  declared 
himself  devoted  to  their  system." 

It  is  the  general  opinion  of  historians,  as  well  as  of  Segni, 
"  that  the  divisions  of  the  citizens  into  parties  under  the  trium 
virate,  and  afterwards  of  those  persons  of  middle  rank,  who,  by 
means  of  their  discord,  came  after  them  into  power,  as  Car- 
ducci,  Castiglione,  and  others,  were  the  true  cause  of  the  loss  of 
their  liberties ;  for  these  persons,  though  few  in  number,  among 
a  people  jealous  of  their  liberties,  and  full  of  parties  and  various 
humors,  found  it  easy  to  agitate  their  fellow-citizens  in  so  violent 
a  manner,  as  to  make  them  resolve  upon  sustaining  a  siege,  and 


*  Segni,  Vita  di  Niccolo  Capponi,  p.  42. 

f  Infra  le  cagioni  atte  a  rovinare  la  rcpubblica,  una,  e  non  la  manco  sono  i 
cittadini,  che  favoriti,  e  fattisi  capi  del  popolo,  mentrech&  ora  per  ritenere  quella 
grandezza,  e  ora  per  racquistarla,  cercano  di  fare  ogni  cosa,  che  piace  alia  molti- 
tudine,  n£  s'  avveggono,  che  distruggono  quella  liberta ;  e  questo  £  confermato 
f  on  molti  esempi  dell'  antiche  repubbliche  della  Greeia,  e  piu  modernamente  con 
quelli  della  Romana,  dove  si  vede,  a  chi  considera  quelle  storie  con  buono  giudi- 
zio,  i  cittadini  popolari  essere  stati  piu  cagione  della  sua  rovina,  che  quegli,  che 
favorivano  1'  autorita  del  senate.  Sienmi  di  cio  testimonio  in  prima  i  Gracchi,  di 
poi  Mario,  e  Cesare  ultimamente,  i  quali  sebbene  con  oneste  cagioni  di  sollevare 
il  popolo  grasso,  cercarono  di  compiacergli,  ebbono  nondimanco  sotto  questo  pre- 
testo  medesimo  nascosto  il  veleno,  che  estinse  appoco  appoco  quella  republica. 
Non  e  dubbio,  che,  leggendo  questa  storia,  si  potra  conchiudere  questo  medesimo, 
che  i  capi  del  popolo,  Soderini,  Strozzi,  Carducci,  mentreche  opponendosi  a  Nic 
colo  Capponi  per  farsi  piu  grand!,  e  venire  in  piu  grazia,  indebolirono  assai  quel 
governo.  Segni,  Storie,  lib.  iv.  p.  102. 

1  His  last  words  are  said  to  have  referred  to  the  divisions  by  which  the  state 
was  convulsed :  —  "  Oime,  oime,  dove  abbiam  noi  indotta  la  patria  nostra !  " 
•Sesrni. 


FLORENCE.  163 

to  render  the  defence  glorious.  And  although  it  is  not  denied 
that  the  pope  gave  a  provocation  to  this,  and  would  have  tried 
every  method  to  recover  Florence,  yet  the  difficulties  were  so 
great,  that  it  is  not  doubted  he  would  have  been  contented  with 
reasonable  conditions,  rather  than  venture  on  so  atrocious  and  so 
impious  a  war." 

We  pass  over  all  the  marches  of  armies,  and  intrigues  of  ne 
gotiation  between  the  King  of  France,  the  emperor,  the  pope, 
the  Venetians,  &c.,  which  occurred  before  the  fifth  of  October, 
1529,  when  the  Prince  of  Orange  advanced  before  Florence,  and 
laid  siege  to  the  city,  which  was  now  well  fortified,  and  contained 
a  strong  garrison. 

"Valori  was  sent  by  the  pope  as  his  commissary  to  the  army, 
and  with  him  went  a  large  number  of  Florentine  exiles,  (of 
whom  there  was  always  a  multitude  scattered  and  wandering 
about  all  Italy,  and  waiting  for  the  motion  of  troubled  waters) 
who  now  joined  the  united  army  of  the  pope  and  emperor.  As 
these  had  relations  and  connections  in  the  city,  an  alarm  was 
excited ;  and  to  intimidate  every  one  from  the  thoughts  of  an 
accommodation,  the  signori  resolved  that  five-and-twenty  citizens 
should  be  declared  suspected  of  disaffection  to  the  popular  govern 
ment,  and  confined  in  the  palace  under  a  strong  guard  ;  and,  to 
complete  their  plan  of  terror  against  any  one  who  might  speak 
of  an  accommodation,  they  cut  off  the  head  of  Carlo  Cocchi, 
for  saying  that  it  would  be  better  to  restore  the  Medici  than  to 
hazard  the  war,  and  for  talking  of  a  parliament,"* 

There  is  not  in  the  whole  history  a  fact  more  curious  than 
this,  as  it  lets  us  into  the  true  character  of  this  government. 
It  was  always  called  the  popular  government,  but  it  was  really 
an  aristocracy ;  and  the  members  of  it  dreaded  an  assembly  or 
convention  of  the  people,  which  they  called  a  parliament,  as 
much  as  they  did  the  Medici ;  and  soon  after,  the  same  sentence 
and  execution  was  passed  upon  Francesco  Rigogolo,  for  daring 
to  speak  of  an  accommodation.!  And  by  these  arts  and  means 

*  E  per  dare  piti  spavento,  e  per  mettere  piu  terrore,  a  chi  pur  ancora  volesse 
ragionare  d'  accordo,  presero  certa  occasione  contro  a  Carlo  Cocchi  sopra  una 
querela,  par  la  quale  era  Carlo  accusato,  ch'  egli  avesse  detto,  quando  si  ragio- 
nava  largamente,  e  molto  liberamente  nelF  universale  dell  accordo,  chefusse  piu- 
tosto  da  voler  rimettere  i  Medici,  che  aspettare  la  guerra,  e  conteneva  la  querela, 
che  Carlo  in  un  certo  modo  avesse  in  quel  suo  parlare  mescolato  anche  il  nome 
tanto  odioso  al  governo  popolare  del  parlamento.  Nerli,  lib.  ix.  p.  199. 

f  Onde  messono  tale  spavento,  e  tanto  terrore  nell'  universale  per  cagione  de' 


164  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

did  this  aristocratical  tyrant,  the  gonfalonier,  spread  such  a  terror 
among  the  citizens,  that  no  man  dared  oppose  his  will ;  and  he 
obtained  and  exercised  more  power  than  the  magistrates,  the 
cabal,  (pratiche,)  the  ordinary  council,  or  the  laws ;  and  he  used 
it  accordingly  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner,  in  raising  money  by 
various  illegal  measures,  by  discarding  magistrates  and  dissolv 
ing  councils  at  his  pleasure,  and  in  doing  all  other  things  that  an 
unbridled  despot  could  do.  It  would  be  tedious,  and  it  is  unne 
cessary  to  relate  all  the  particulars  of  his  arbitrary  conduct ;  of 
the  assaults  and  sallies,  in  one  of  which  the  Prince  of  Orange 
was  killed ;  the  hopes,  fears,  deliberations,  distresses,  and  famine 
of  a  siege,  which  does  infinite  dishonor  to  this  pope,  who  had 
no  right  to  subject  the  city ;  and  of  a  defence  which  was  made  by 
the  obstinacy  of  an  aristocratical  junto,  for  purposes  of  ambition 
equally  reprehensible,  though  colored  with  a  pretence  of  a  popular 
government,  but  which  was  by  no  means  conducted  by  the  spirit 
of  liberty,  or  upon  any  principle  of  a  free  people.  On  the  con 
trary,  it  was  conducted,  from  first  to  last,  without  regard  to  any 
law  or  constitution,  and  against -the  sense  of  a  great  majority  of 
the  people. 

"  The  defence  was  sustained  from  October  to  August,  on  the 
ninth  day  of  which  month,  1530,  four  ambassadors  were  deputed 
to  treat  with  Don  Fernando  da  Gonzaga,  who,  since  the  death 
of  Orange,  had  the  chief  command  of  the  army,  and  the  next 
day  a  convention  was  concluded.  The  principal  articles  were, 
that  the  city  should  pay  eight  thousand  ducats  for  removing  the 
army ;  that  the  pope  and  the  city  should  give  authority  to  the 
emperor  to  declare,  within  three  months,  what  should  be  the 
form  of  government,  '  salva  nondimeno  la  liberta,'  *  with  a  re 
servation  of  liberty;  that  a  pardon  should  be  understood,  for 
every  one,  of  all  injuries  done  to  the  pope,  his  friends,  and 

cittadini  sostenuti,  e  per  quelle  esecutioni,  che  s*  erano  fatte,  che  piti  non  era  ri- 
maso  in  Firenze  chi  pure  ardisse  non  solo  parlare  dell'  accordo,  o  della  guerra, 
ma  non  era  anche  chi  avesse  in  animo  a  contrapporsi  a  quelli  della  setta  del 
gonfaloniere  in  cosa  alcuna.  Nerli,  p.  199. 

*  In  primis,  che  la  forma  del  governo  abbia  da  ordinarsi,  e  stabilirsi  dalla  Ma- 
esta  Cesarea  infra  quattro  mesi  prossimi  avvenire,  intendendosi  sempre  conservata 
la  libertti.  Nerli,  lib.  xi.  p.  144.  Intendendosi  sempre,  che  sia  conservata  la  li 
berta.  Varchi,  lib.  xi.  p.  429.  Che  la  citta  rimanesse  libera  nel  modo  ch'  ell' 
era,  rimettendo  solamente  i  Medici,  e  tutti  gli  altri  cittadini  fatti  ribelli  da  quel 
governo.  Segni,  p.  1 25.  Nardi,  lib.  ix.  p.  382.  Muratori,  Annal.  torn.  x.  p.  213, 
anno  1530.  Laugier,  Hist,  de  Venise,  lib.  xxxv.  torn.  ix.  p.  385.  Guicciardini, 
lib.  xix. 


FLORENCE.  165 

servants ;  and  that  Malatesta  should  remain  with  two  thousand 
foot,  for  the  guard  of  the  city,  until  the  emperor's  declaration 
should  arrive." 

It  is  made  a  question,  whether  the  general  who  commanded 
in  Florence  was,  or  was  not,  a  traitor  to  his  cause.  Varchi  is 
very  sanguine  in  the  affirmative,  and  produces  letters  in  evidence; 
but  the  citizens  and  garrison  were  reduced  to  such  extremities 
for  provisions,  that  they  could  not  have  held  out  three  days 
longer.  The  pope,  on  his  part,  was  not  very  anxious  to  fulfil 
his  treaty.  While  the  money  was  getting  ready  to  pay  off  the 
army,  Valori,  the  apostolic  commissary,  in  concert  with  Mala 
testa,  having  called  together  the  people  in  the  piazza,  according 
to  the  ancient  custom  of  the  city,  to  make  a  parliament,  the 
magistrates  and  others,  conniving  at  it  through  fear,  instituted  a 
new  government  contrary  to  the  treaty,  giving  authority  by  this 
parliament  to  twelve  citizens,  who  adhered  to  the  Medici,  to 
ordain,  in  their  own  manner,  the  constitution  of  the  city,  who 
reduced  it  to  that  form  which  prevailed  before  the  year  1527. 
The  army  received  their  money ;  the  Italian  officers  defrauded 
their  soldiers,  whom  they  dismissed  to  seek  their  fortunes  with 
out  their  pay ;  the  Spaniards  and  Germans  marched  into  Siena 
to  new-model  the  government  of  that  city ;  and  Malatesta 
returned  to  Perugia  without  any  further  declaration  from  the 
emperor,  and  left  the  city  of  Florence  at  the  arbitrary  disposi 
tion  of  the  pontiff. 

Now  began  the  punishments  of  the  citizens  ;  "  for  those  in 
whose  hands  the  government  was  left,  partly  for  the  security  of 
the  state,  and  partly  by  the  hatred  conceived  against  the  authors 
of  so  great  calamities,  and  the  resentment  of  private  injuries, 
but  principally  because  such  was  the  intention  of  the  pope, 
brought  the  principal  citizens  concerned  in  the  late  government 
to  a  trial,  and  they  were  sentenced  to  death  and  executed. 
Others  were  confined,  without  much  regret,  sympathy,  or  pity, 
from  any  party;  for  the  friends  of  Capponi,  and  all  the  real 
friends  of  liberty,  regarded  them  as  the  cause  of  preventing  an 
accommodation,  and  the  ruin  of  their  country,  while  the  Medici 
considered  them  as  their  bitterest  enemies.  The  pope  sent  the 
Archbishop  of  Capua  to  take  care  of  the  government,  who,  by 
the  pope's  orders,  and  to  give  more  general  satisfaction  to  the 
citizens,  caused  the  balia  to  be  increased  in  number  to  one  hun- 


166  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

dred  and  thirty-six,  made  a  general  scrutiny  for  offices,  regulated 
commerce,  made  a  new  imborsation  of  the  six  magistrates, 
renewed  the  purses,  and  disposed  all  other  things  according  to 
his  inclinations.  A  quarrel  arose  between  the  Cardinal  Hippoli- 
to  de'  Medici  and  the  Duke  Alexander,  and  a  contention  for  the 
sovereignty  of  Florence ;  but  the  pope  and  the  emperor  deter 
mined  it  in  favor  of  Alexander." 

In  1531,  the  ordinance  of  the  emperor  arrived,  and  was  form 
ally  accepted.  Many  of  the  best  citizens,  some  of  whom  had 
been  always  friends  of  the  Medici,  with  great  reluctance  gave 
up  the  idea  of  a  free  government;  they  still  solicited  the  pope 
not  to  reduce  the  republic  to  an  absolute  principality,  but  they 
could  not  agree  among  themselves.  Some  were  for  a  dukedom, 
limited  only  by  councils;  others  for  restoring  the  state  to  the 
form  it  was  formerly  in  under  the  Medici ;  and  others  for  a  more 
rational  distribution  of  power.  But  the  pope  was  determined, 
if  he  could,  to  make  his  family  and  friends  secure. 

In  1532,  the  pope's  intentions  were  made  known,  and  twelve 
citizens  were  appointed  to  reform  the  state  ;  the  signori  and  the 
gonfalonier  were  abolished ;  a  council  of  two  hundred  was  cre 
ated,  and  a  senate  of  forty-eight.  The  senate  of  forty-eight  was 
to  have  the  whole  legislative  and  executive  power,  and  the  coun 
cil  of  two  hundred  were  merely  to  consider  private  petitions  and 
such  things  as  should  be  referred  to  them  by  the  senate.  Four 
persons,  members  of  the  senate,  were  to  be  high  counsellors  of 
the  duke,  and  Alexander  and  his  heirs  were  made  dukes  and 
heads  of  the  state.  Guicciardini's  account  is,*  that  the  pope 
interpreted  the  article  in  the  treaty  which  had  stipulated  pardon, 
not  according  to  the  sense,  but  the  letter ;  not  to  comprehend 
crimes  committed  against  the  state,  but  only  injuries  to  the  pope 
and  his  friends.  Six  of  the  principal  delinquents  were  adjudged 
by  the  magistrates  to  be  beheaded,  others  to  be  imprisoned,  and 
a  great  number  banished.  By  these  proceedings  the  city  was 
weakened,  and  those  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  late  trou 
bles  reduced  to  great  necessities,  and  the  power  of  the  Medici 
became  more  free,  more  absolute,  and  almost  monarchical  in 
Florence,  which  remained  exhausted  of  money  by  so  long  and 
grievous  a  war,  deprived  within  and  without  of  many  of  its 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  xx.  p.  546. 


FLORENCE.  167 

inhabitants,  its  houses  and  property  destroyed  abroad,  and  more 
than  ever  divided  within  itself.  And  this  poverty  was  rendered 
yet  more  distressing,  by  the  necessity  of  procuring,  for  several 
years,  provisions  from  foreign  countries,  since  there  had  been  no 
harvests  nor  seeds  sown. 

"  The  emperor,  in  declaring  the  form  of  government,  neglecting 
the  salvo  of  liberty,  pronounced,  according  to  the  very  instruc 
tions  the  pope  had  sent  him,  that  the  city  should  be  governed 
by  the  same  magistrates  as  in  the  times  when  the  Medici  ruled 
it,  and  that  Alexander,  who  was  the  pope's  nephew,  and  his  own 
son-in-law,  should  be  the  head  of  the  government,  and  be  suc 
ceeded  by  the  children,  descendants,  and  nearest  relations  of  the 
same  family.  He  restored  to  the  city  all  the  privileges  granted 
by  himself  or  his  predecessors,  but  on  condition  to  be  forfeited 
whenever  the  citizens  should  make  any  attempt  against  the 
grandeur  of  the  family  of  Medici;  inserting,  throughout  the 
decree,  words  which  showed  it  to  be  founded  not  only  in  the 
power  conceded  to  him  by  the  people  and  the  parties,  but  also 
on  the  imperial  dignity  and  authority." 

The  spirit  of  families,  and  the  ambition  peculiar  to  it,  is,  when 
once  thoroughly  enkindled,  a  raging  flame,  extinguishable  only 
by  death.  Every  new  gratification  of  it  is  only  a  fresh  addition 
of  fuel  to  the  burnings.  The  passion  of  Hercules,  Caesar,  and 
Mahomet,  had  now  full  possession  of  Clement  VII. ;  and  the 
domination  so  perfidiously  acquired  over  that  noble  city,  where 
his  ancestors  had  laid  the  foundation  of  their  power  in  a  popu 
larity  among  the  basest  dregs  of  a  mob,  was  not  sufficient  to 
satiate  it. 

"  The  pontiff  had  fixed  in  his  heart  an  ardent  appetite  for  an 
alliance  with  France ;  his  ambition  and  thirst  for  this  kind  of 
glory,  which,  instead  of  being  a  virtue,  is  a  detestable  vice, 
stimulated  him  the  more,  that,  he  being  only  of  a  private  family, 
he  had  obtained  for  one  natural  son  a  natural  daughter  of  so  pow 
erful  an  emperor ;  he  now  hoped  to  procure  for  his  legitimate 
niece  a  legitimate  son  of  a  king  of  France  ;  and  he  was  not  dis 
couraged  from  this  pretension  by  the  jealousy  that  the  King  of 
France  might  form  claims  for  his  son  and  daughter-in-law  on 
the  state  of  Florence.  By  various  negotiations  he  at  length 
accomplished  an  interview  with  the  King  of  France  at  Mar 
seilles.  The  pontiff  exerted  his  usual  dissimulation  to  persuade 


168  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

all  the  world  that  he  went  to  this  interview  chiefly  to  finish  the 
peace,  to  treat  of  an  enterprise  against  the  infidels,  to  reduce 
Henry  VIIL,  King  of  England,  to  his  duty ;  in  short,  with  a 
single  view  to  the  public  good.  But  he  could  not  conceal  his 
real  motive,  when  he  sent  his  niece  on  board  the  galleys  which 
the  King  of  France  had  ordered,  with  the  Duke  of  Albany,  her 
uncle,  to  Nizza.  These  galleys,  after  having  conducted  the  lady 
to  Nizza,  returned  to  Pisa,  and  on  the  fourth  of  October,  1532, 
took  the  pope,  with  many  of  his  cardinals,  and  landed  them  in  a 
few  days  at  Marseilles.  He  made  his  entry  in  form  ;  the  king 
did  the  same.  They  lodged  in  the  same  palace,  and  made 
mutual  demonstrations  of  uncommon  affection.  The  king,  desir 
ous  of  gaining  the  pope's  heart,  requested  him  to  send  for  his 
niece  to  Marseilles,  which  the  pope,  though  he  pretended  to  treat 
first  of  public  affairs,  most  cordially  desired.*  As  soon  as  Cathe 
rine  de'  Medici  arrived,  the  marriage  was  celebrated  with  Henry, 
the  son  of  the  King  of  France,  and  consummated  immediately, 
to  the  infinite  joy  of  the  pope,  who,  negotiating  with  the  king  in 
person,  completely  gained  his  confidence  and  affection. 

"  The  pope  returned  from  Marseilles,  and  soon  after,  in  1534, 
he  died.  Alexander  had  taken  effectual  measures  to  disarm  all 
the  citizens  of  Florence,  friends  as  well  as  enemies,  and  thought 
himself  now  secure.  Philip  Strozzi,  however,  was  highly  dis 
gusted  and  provoked,  both  with  the  duke  and  the  pope,  because 
he  had  not  been  able  to  procure  one  of  his  sons  to  be  made  a 
cardinal,  as  his  lady  Clarissa  had  often  promised  him  ;  and 
because  two  of  his  sons  had  been  taken  up,  with  some  other 
young  gentlemen,  in  the  license  of  a  masquerade,  and  committed 
to  prison  by  the  lieutenant  of  the  police ;  and  because  of  some 
quarrel  that  had  arisen  between  Peter,  his  eldest  son,  and  Salviati, 
a  favorite  of  Alexander;  in  this  disgust  he  went  with  his  sons,  as 
soon  as  he  could  obtain  their  liberty,  to  France.  After  the 
death  of  the  pope,  animosities  increased  between  the  Duke 
Alexander  and  the  Cardinal  Hippolito,  and  Philip  Strozzi  went 
from  France  to  Rome  ;  and  as  great  divisions  arose  in  Florence, 
on  account  of  the  difference  between  the  duke  and  the  cardinal, 
and  their  negotiations  with  the  emperor,  as  had  existed  under 
the  former  government.  Hippolito,  on  a  journey  to  meet  the 

*  Nerli,  p.  270. 


FLORENCE.  169 

emperor,  though  in  high  health  and  strength,  was  taken  violently 
ill  on  the  road,  and  died,  not  without  strong  suspicions  of  poison. 
The  death  of  the  cardinal  relieved  the  duke  from  all  apprehen 
sions  of  his  intrigues ;  but  Philip  Strozzi  and  the  exiles  from 
Florence  began  to  think  of  negotiating  with  the  emperor,  and 
went  to  Naples  to  meet  him.  Alexander  too  went  to  Naples  ; 
and  great  disputes  arose  before  the  emperor  about  the  form 
of  government,  Strozzi  and  the  exiles  endeavoring  to  obtain 
a  restoration  of  that  kind  of  freedom  which  had  been  en 
joyed  formerly  under  the  Medici.  But  Alexander  married  the 
Duchess  Marguerita,  the  emperor's  daughter,  and  returned  to 
Florence,  leaving  Strozzi  and  the  exiles  disappointed.* 

"  Lorenzo  di  Pierfranco  de'  Medici  had  accompanied  Alexander 
to  this  interview  with  the  emperor  at  Naples,  and  there  had  en 
tered  into  intimate  friendship  with  Peter  Strozzi  f  and  the  other 
Florentine  exiles,  and  conceived  that  design  of  assassinating  his 
friend  and  patron,  which  he  afterwards  executed  with  so  many 
circumstances  of  cool  deliberation,  insidious  malice,  and  execrable 
villany.  He  was  a  young  nobleman,  in  greater  favor  with  the 
duke  than  any  other.  To  him,  after  their  return  from  Naples  to 
Florence,  were  communicated  all  the  duke's  private  amours,  as 
well  as  all  the  most  important  councils  of  the  state ;  and,  the 
more  effectually  to  secure  his  confidence,  Lorenzo  had  acted  the 
part  of  so  active  an  instrument,  as  to  have  drawn  upon  himself 
a  universal  odium  among  all  parties  in  Florence,  but  particularly 
among  the  grandees  and  nobles.  At  the  same  time  he  held  secret 
intrigues  and  intelligence  with  Philip  Strozzi  £  and  all  the  exiles 
abroad ;  and  at  home  so  artfully  affected  an  aversion  to  arms 
and  public  affairs,  and  to  be  so  wholly  devoted  to  his  studies  and 
his  pleasures,  that  the  duke  and  his  courtiers  called  him  '  The 
Philosopher.'  § 

Varchi  informs  us  ||  that  he  received  his  information  of  this 
horrid  action  from  the  only  persons  who  could  be  capable  of 
relating  the  whole  truth,  because  they  were  the  only  witnesses 
of  it,  and  agents  in  it;  from  Lorenzo  himself,  in  the  city  of  Palu- 
ello,  eight  miles  from  Padua,  and  from  Scoronconcolo,  his  confi 
dant,  in  the  house  of  the  Strozzi  in  Venice. 

*  Nerli,  p.  286.     Segni,  lib.  vii.  p.  199.     Adrian!,  Hist,  di  suoi  Tempi,  p.  9. 

f  Varchi,  p.  547.  J  Segni,  p.  199. 

§  Segni,  p.  200.  ||  Varchi,  lib.  xv.  p.  587 

VOL.  V.  15 


170  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"Lorenzo  was  born  in  Florence,  the  twenty-third  of  March, 
1514,  the  son  of  Pierfrancesco  di  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  grand- 
nephew  of  Lorenzo,  brother  of  Cosimo,  and  of  Maria,  the  daughter 
of  Tommaso  di  Paolantonio  Soderini,  a  lady  of  uncommon  pru 
dence  and  benevolence,  by  whom,  his  father  dying  early,  he  was 
educated  with  the  utmost  diligence  and  care  ;  but  he  had  no  sooner 
acquired  the  knowledge  of  the  classics,  in  which  his  genius  ena 
bled  him  to  make  a  rapid  progress,  than  he  was  taken  from  the 
care  of  his  mother  and  his  tutor,  and  began  to  discover  a  restless 
and  insatiable  disposition  to  plunge  himself  into  vice ;  and  soon 
afterwards,  in  imitation  of  Philip  Strozzi,  he  began  to  laugh  at 
every  thing  divine  and  human,  and  to  associate  himself  with 
persons  of  base  condition  and  character,  rather  than  with  his 
equals.  These,  by  continual  flatteries,  and  fomenting  his  pas 
sions,  led  him  into  vice  and  folly  of  every  kind,  particularly  into 
all  the  extravagances  of  brutal  appetite  in  his  amours,  respecting 
neither  sex,  age,  condition,  nor  secrecy.  While  he  sought  an 
intercourse  with  all,  he  affected  to  esteem  none ;  yet  he  had  an 
equally  extravagant  passion  for  glory,  and  left  no  empirical  arti 
fice  unattempted,  in  his  words  or  actions,  by  which  he  thought 
he  could  acquire  a  name,  either  of  a  gallant  man  or  a  shrewd 
one.  He  was  nimble  and  active,  rather  thin  than  otherwise,  and 
for  this  reason  he  affected  to  call  himself  Lorenzino ;  he  never 
laughed ;  at  most  he  only  smiled.  His  air  and  action  were  more 
remarkable  for  grace  than  elegance,  and  his  countenance  was 
dark  and  melancholy.  In  the  flower  of  his  youth,  although  he 
was  beloved  beyond  measure  by  the  pope,  Clement  VII.,  he  had 
formed  in  his  mind  a  project,  as  he  said  himself,  after  he  had 
killed  the  Duke  Alexander,  to  assassinate  his  holiness.  He  cor 
rupted  Francesco  di  Rafaello  de'  Medici,  the  rival  of  the  pope,  a 
youth  of  excellent  erudition  and  the  most  promising  hopes,  to 
such  a  degree  of  profligacy,  that  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  manner 
out  of  his  wits  ;  so  that,  having  become  the  derision  of  the  whole 
court  of  Rome,  to  avoid  a  greater  disgrace,  he  was  sent  back  as 
a  madman  to  Florence. 

"At  this  time  Lorenzo  fell  into  disgrace  with  the  pope,  and 
gave  universal  disgust  to  the  Roman  people,  for  another  reason. 
One  morning,  in  the  arch  of  Constantine,  and  in  other  places  of 
Rome,  many  ancient  statues  were  found  without  their  heads. 
The  pope  was  so  exasperated,  that,  not  thinking  of  Lorenzo,  he 


FLORENCE.  171 

gave  orders  that  whoever  had  done  the  mischief,  excepting  only 
the  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  should,  without  process,  trial,  or  delay, 
be  hanged  up  by  the  neck.  The  cardinal  was  obliged  to  go  to 
the  pope  and  intercede  for  Lorenzo,  as  a  young  man,  and  pas 
sionately  fond,  like  all  their  ancestors,  of  such  antiquities ;  but  it 
was  with  difficulty  he  could  appease  the  indignation  of  the  pope, 
who  called  him  the  infamy  and  reproach  of  the  house  of  Medici. 
Lorenzo,  however,  was  obliged  to  depart  from  Rome,  with  two 
public  proclamations  after  him,  one  forbidding  him  to  remain 
any  longer  in  that  city,  and  the  other  promising  not  only  impu 
nity,  but  rewards,  to  any  one  who  would  kill  him  ;  and  Francesco 
Molza,  a  man  of  great  eloquence,  and  celebrated  for  his  know 
ledge  of  the  Grecian,  Roman,  and  Tuscan  literature,  made  a 
public  oration  against  him  in  the  Roman  academy,  in  which  he 
covered  him  with  all  the  reproaches  possible.  With  all  this 
infamy  he  returned  to  Florence,  and  began  to  make  his  court  to 
the  Duke  Alexander.  He  understood  so  well  the  arts  of  hypo 
crisy  and  flattery,  and  counterfeited  so  perfectly  an  absolute  sub 
mission  to  him  in  all  things,  that  he  made  him  believe  he  was  a 
faithful  spy  upon  the  exiles  abroad,  laying  at  the  same  time, 
under  this  simulation,  secret  plots  with  these  fugitives,  and  every 
day  showing  him  letters  received  from  one  or  another  of  them. 
To  remove  every  suspicion  of  daring  enterprise,  he  affected  the 
character  of  a  coward,  and  would  neither  exercise  in  arms  nor 
wear  them  about  him,  so  that  the  duke  took  a  pleasure  in  rally 
ing  him  upon  his  pusillanimity.  He  affected  to  be  wholly  devoted 
to  books  and  studies,  walked  much  alone,  and  appeared  to  have 
no  ambition  for  honors,  or  desire  of  property,  in  so  remarkable  a 
manner,  that  they  called  him  '  The  Philosopher.'  He  complied 
with  the  inclinations  of  the  duke  in  all  things,  and  aided  him  in 
all  occasions  of  need,  especially  against  Signor  Cosimo,  his  second 
cousin,  against  whom  he  bore  an  unbounded  hatred,  either  be 
cause  they  were  of  different  or  rather  contrary  characters  by 
nature,  or  by  reason  of  a  lawsuit  of  very  great  importance,  which 
Cosimo  had  instituted  against  him  for  the  inheritance  of  their 
ancestors.  By  all  these  artifices  the  duke  was  deluded  into  a 
confidence  in  Lorenzo,  so  perfectly  secure,  that,  not  contented 
with  employing  him  as  a  pimp  in  his  amours  with  all  sorts  of 
women,  religious  as  well  as  secular,  virgins,  wives,  or  widows, 
noble  or  ignoble,  young  or  old,  he  now  demanded  of  him  to  pro- 


172  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

cure  a  sister  of  his  own  mother  on  her  father's  side,  a  young  lady 
of  admirable  beauty  and  equal  modesty,  the  wife  of  Lionardo 
Ginori,  who  lived  not  far  from  the  rear  entrance  of  the  palace  of 
the  Medici. 

"  Lorenzo,  who  waited  only  for  a  similar  opportunity,  repre 
sented  to  him  that  the  intrigue  would  be  attended  with  difficulty, 
though  not  from  himself,  for,  in  one  word,  all  women  were  alike ; 
and  upon  this  occasion  the  prospect  was  the  better,  because 
the  husband  was  at  Naples,  where  he  had  spent  much  of  his 
fortune  in  dissipation.  Although  he  had  never  dared  to  speak 
to  the  lady  on  the  subject,  he  affirmed  to  the  duke  that  he  had, 
and  that  he  had  found  her  very  obstinate ;  but  he  promised  that 
he  would  never  cease  to  seduce  her,  by  bribes,  flatteries,  and 
every  species  of  corruption,  until  he  brought  her  to  condescend 
in  all  things  to  their  will.  In  the  mean  while  he  was  engaging, 
not  less  by  actions  than  with  words,  one  Michele  del  Tovalaccino, 
nicknamed  Scoronconcolo,  for  whom  he  had  procured  a  pardon 
for  a  murder  he  had  committed,  though  a  reward  had  by  procla 
mation  been  set  upon  his  head.  To  this  ruffian  he  often  com 
plained  of  a  certain  intriguing  personage  at  court,  who,  without 
the  smallest  provocation,  had  bantered,  slandered,  and  insulted 
him  with  his  jokes  upon  all  his  words  and  actions,  but  that,  in 

the  name  of  God ;  at  which  words  Scoronconcolo,  rousing 

to  resentment,  suddenly  cried, '  Name  him  only,  and  let  me  alone 
to  manage  him  ;  he  shall  never  give  you  another  ill  word  or  look.' 
Here  the  conversation  ended  for  the  present ;  but  Scoronconcolo, 
who  found  himself  every  day  more  and  more  caressed  and  loaded 
with  favors  by  Lorenzo,  at  length  pressed  him  earnestly  to  name 
his  enemy,  and  not  to  doubt  of  his  being  soon  put  out  of  his 
way.  Lorenzo  answered,  'Alas,  no  ;  the  person,  be  he  who  it  may, 
is  a  great  favorite  of  the  duke.'  Scoronconcolo  replied,  in  the  lan 
guage  of  a  bully,  'I  will  assassinate  him,  if  he  were  Christ  him 
self.'  Lorenzo  then  perceived  that  his  design  had  succeeded ; 
having  invited  him  one  day  to  dinner,  as  he  often  did,  notwith 
standing  the  remonstrances  of  his  mother  and  the  reproaches  of 
the  world,  he  said  to  him, '  Courage !  courage !  in  that  affair,  which 
you  promised  me  so  bravely,  I  am  sure  you  will  not  fail  me ;  as  I 
will  never  fail  you,  at  any  time,  in  any  thing  in  my  power.  I  am 
satisfied  and  resolved,  but  in  order  that  we  may  do  the  business 
with  security,  I  will  see  to  getting  him  to  a  place  where  there 
may  be  no  danger  to  you,  and  I  have  no  doubt  I  shall  succeed.' 


FLORENCE.  173 

"  The  same  night  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  most  proper  time, 
because  Signer  Alexander  Vitelli  was  absent  upon  an  excursion 
to  the  city  of  Castello  ;  and  he  took  the  opportunity,  after  supper, 
to  whisper  in  the  ear  of  the  duke,  and  to  say  to  him,  that  at  last, 
by  the  promise  of  money,  he  had  disposed  his  aunt  to  comply, 
and  therefore  he  must  watch  his  opportunity  to  come  alone,  and 
very  cautiously,  into  his  chamber,  taking  particular  care,  for  the 
honor  of  the  lady,  that  no  one  should  see  him  either  enter  or  go 
out,  and  that  he  himself  would  go  immediately  for  her.  Certain 
it  is,  that  the  duke,  having  put  on  a  robe  of  satin  lined  with  fur, 
according  to  the  Neapolitan  fashion,  went  out  to  walk  with  four 
of  his  courtiers,  whom  he  soon  dismissed,  saying,  he  wished  to 
be  alone  ;  shortly  after  he  went  to  the  chamber  of  Lorenzo,  where 
he  found  a  good  fire,  ungirded  his  sword,  and  threw  himself  down 
on  the  couch.  Lorenzo  suddenly  seized  his  sword,  and  winding 
hastily  the  belt  round  the  hilt,  so  that  it  might  not  be  easily  un 
sheathed,  laid  it  at  the  head  of  the  duke,  behind  his  pillow,  and 
advised  him  to  repose  himself;  he  secured  the  door,  that  no  one 
might  come  in,  and  went  away  to  find  Scoronconcolo ;  having  done 
this,  he  said  to  him,  in  a  transport  of  joy, '  My  dear  brother,  now  is 
the  moment !  I  have  shut  up  in  my  chamber  that  enemy  of  mine, 
and  he  is  fast  asleep.'  '  Let  us  go  thither,'  said  Scoronconcolo. 
When  they  were  on  the  landing-place  of  the  stairs  to  the  chamber, 
Lorenzo  turned  about  and  said, '  Don't  mind  whether  it  be  a  friend 
of  the  duke  or  not,  only  mind  you  to  secure  his  hands.'  i  I  will 
do  it,'  replied  his  friend,  '  even  though  it  were  the  duke  himself.' 
'Every  thing  is  so  prepared,'  said  Lorenzo,  with  a  joyful  counte 
nance,  'that  he  cannot  escape  from  our  hands ;  let  us  make  haste.' 
'  Let  us  go,'  said  Scoronconcolo.  Lorenzo  lifted  up  the  latch  and 
let  it  fall  again.  At  the  second  attempt  he  entered,  and  cried 
out,  '  Signer,  are  you  asleep  ? '  The  uttering  these  words  and 
running  him  through  and  through  with  a  short  sword  was  the 
work  of  the  same  moment.  This  stroke  alone  had  been  mortal, 
for,  passing  through  the  reins,  he  had  perforated  the  diaphragm 
which  divides  the  upper  ventricle,  where  are  the  heart  and  the 
other  vital  members,  from  the  lower,  where  are  the  liver  and  the 
other  members  of  nutrition  and  of  generation.  The  duke,  who 
either  was  asleep,  or  remained  with  his  eyes  shut,  as  if  he  had 
slept,  receiving  such  a  blow,  leaped  up  on  the  bed,  and  threw 
himself  backwards  to  fly  towards  the  door,  making  use  of  a  stool 

15* 


174  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

which  he  had  seized  on  for  a  shield.  But  Scoronconcolo,  seizing 
an  opportunity,  gave  him  a  stroke  with  a  knife  upon  the  visage, 
which  laid  open  one  of  his  temples,  and  clove  the  greatest  part 
of  his  left  cheek.  Lorenzo,  having  dragged  him  upon  the  bed, 
held  him  down  upon  his  back,  and  bore  upon  him  with  the  whole 
weight  of  his  body ;  and,  that  he  might  not  cry  out,  he  attempted 
to  stop  his  mouth  with  his  fingers,  saying,  *  Signer,  fear  not.' 
Then  the  duke,  assisting  himself  as  well  as  he  could,  seized  the 
thumb  between  his  teeth,  and  bit  it  with  such  rage,  that  Lorenzo, 
fallen  on  his  back,  and  not  able  to  handle  his  sword,  was  obliged 
to  call  out  for  help  to  Scoronconcolo,  who  ran  to  his  aid,  and  taking 
his  aim,  sometimes  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  could 
not  strike  Alexander  without  first  or  at  the  same  time  striking 
Lorenzo,  clasped  tightly  in  his  arms.  He  then  attempted  to 
thrust  at  him  with  the  point  of  his  sword  between  the  legs  of  Lo 
renzo  ;  but  making  no  other  impression  than  to  bore  the  bed,  he 
laid  his  hand  on  a  knife,  which  he  had  by  accident  about  him, 
and  stuck  it  in  the  throat  of  the  duke,  turning  it  like  a  wimble. 
He  was  already,  however,  very  near  dead  from  the  effects  of 
the  first  blow,  by  which  he  had  lost  so  much  blood  as  to  have 
flooded  almost  the  whole  chamber. 

"  It  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  that  through  the  whole  of  this 
tragical  scene,  while  Lorenzo  held  him  under,  and  he  saw  Sco 
ronconcolo  fumbling  about  him  with  his  sword  and  knife  to 
murder  him,  he  never  once  complained,  or  begged  for  mercy,  or 
let  go  his  hold  of  that  thumb,  which  he  held  firmly  between 
his  teeth.  The  duke,  as  soon  as  he  was  dead,  slid  off  the  bed 
upon  the  floor;  but  they  took  him  up,  besmeared  all  over 
with  blood,  placed  him  again  upon  the  bed,  and  covered  him 
with  the  same  pavilion  with  which  he  had  concealed  himself 
before  he  first  fell  asleep,  or  made  a  show  of  being  asleep  ;  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  some,  he  designedly  did,  because,  knowing  him 
self  unskilful  in  the  ceremonies  of  politeness,  and  the  lady  whom 
he  expected,  a  mistress  in  elegant  conversation,  he  wished  in  this 
manner  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  exchanging  fine  speeches  with  her. 
Lorenzo,  after  he  had  disposed  of  the  duke,  not  so  much  to  see 
whether  they  had  been  heard,  as  to  restore  himself  and  recover  his 
spirits,  much  exhausted  by  fatigue,  placed  himself  at  one  of  the 
windows  which  overlooked  the  broad  street.  Some  persons  in 
the  house,  particularly  Madam  Maria,  the  mother  of  Cosimo,  had 


FLORENCE.  175 

heard  a  noise,  and  a  trampling  of  feet ;  but  no  one  had  stirred, 
because  Lorenzo,  with  this  view,  had,  for  some  time  before,  been 
used  to  bring  into  this  chamber  companies  of  his  comrades, 
drinking,  rioting,  and  making  a  show  of  quarrelling,  crying  out, 
'Murder!  treason!  you  have  killed  me!'  and  other  exclamations 
of  that  kind. 

"When  Lorenzo  had  restored  himself,  he  made  Scoronconcolo 
call  one  of  his  footmen,  named  Freccia,  and  show  him  the  dead 
body,  which  he  recognized  with  such  astonishment  and  horror, 
that  he  was  with  difficulty  restrained  from  crying  out.  To  what 
purpose  he  did  this  he  neither  explained  to  the  historian,  nor  was 
he  able  to  conjecture,  unless  it  was  upon  the  same  principle, 
that  nothing  which  Lorenzo  did,  from  the  moment  of  the  death 
of  Alexander  to  the  time  of  his  own  death  many  years  after 
wards  in  Venice,  ever  succeeded,  or  appeared  to  be  well  judged. 
He  took  from  Francis  Zeffi,  his  maitre  d'hotel,  a  small  sum  of 
money,  all  that  he  had  by  him  in  cash  ;  and  taking  with  him  the 
key  of  the  chamber,  he  left  the  house  with  Scoronconcolo  and 
Freccia,  and  having  previously  obtained  from  the  Bishop  of 
Marzi  a  license  for  post-horses,  under  color  of  going  to  his  coun 
try  seat  of  Cafaggiuolo,  to  see  Giuliano,  his  younger  brother, 
who,  as  he  pretended,  had  written  to  him  that  he  was  at  the 
point  of  death  with  the  cholic,  went  directly  to  Bologna,  where 
he  dressed  his  thumb,  which  was  found  marked  for  life,  and  there 
related  to  Silvester  Aldobrandini,  the  judge,  the  whole  transac 
tion.  But  the  judge,  thinking  it  a  romantic  fiction,  would  not 
believe,  and  very  imprudently  neglected  to  take  any  notice  of  it, 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Chevalier  Marsili,  who,  with  some  others, 
went  in  pursuit  of  Lorenzo. 

"  The  latter,  in  great  haste  and  fatigue,  arrived  at  Venice  on 
the  Monday  night,  and  with  much  ado  convinced  Philip  Strozzi 
that  under  that  key,  which  he  held  out  to  him,  he  had  locked  up 
the  Duke  Alexander,  with  his  throat  cut,  and  dead  of  many 
wounds.  Philip,  at  last  believing  him,  embraced  him,  called 
him  their  Brutus,  and  promised  him  that  he  would  marry  his 
two  sons,  Peter  and  Robert,  to  his  two  sisters.  Lorenzo  excused 
himself  for  not  having  assembled  the  people  after  the  death  of 
the  duke,  for  three  reasons.  One  was,  that  he  had  been  to  the 
houses  of  several  of  the  popular  citizens;  but  some  had  not 
heard  and  others  had  not  believed  him.  Another  was,  that  he 


176  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

had  left  it  in  commission  with  Zeffo  to  open  the  chamber  early 
in  the  morning,  and  go  in  quest  of  Giuliano  Capponi,  and  other 
citizens,  lovers  of  liberty,  and  tell  them  what  he  had  found 
there.  Thirdly,  that  Scoronconcolo  had  not  ceased  to  stimulate 
him  to  depart,  saying  to  him  every  minute,  *  Let  us  save  our 
selves  ;  we  have  done  but  too  much.'  But  thus  much  is  certain  : 
that  as  no  conspiracy  was  ever  so  deliberately  meditated,  nor 
more  completely  executed  before,  so  none  was  ever  so  stupidly 
and  vilely  conducted  after  the  fact ;  nor  was  there  ever  any  one 
from  whence  resulted  effects  more  contrary  or  more  hurtful  to 
the  perpetrator,  and  more  prosperous  and  profitable  to  his  ene 
mies,  the  first  of  whom,  without  all  controversy,  was  the  Signer 
Cosimo. 

"I  will  not  dispute,"  says  Varchi,  "whether  this  act  was  cruel 
or  compassionate,  commendable  or  blameworthy,  since  no  man 
can  resolve  that  question,  and  give  a  true  answer  to  it,  who 
does  not  know  for  what  reason,  and  to  what  end,  Lorenzo  was 
induced  to  commit  it.  If  he  was  urged  to  so  great  an  enter 
prise,  not  simply  at  the  hazard  of  the  government  of  Florence, 
wThich,  upon  the  death  of  the  duke  without  legitimate  descend 
ants,  would  have  fallen  to  him,  but  also  of  his  own  life,  in  order 
purely  to  deliver  his  country  from  a  tyrant  and  restore  her  liber 
ty,  as  he  affirmed,  I  should  think  that  no  praises  that  could  be 
given  him  would  be  high  enough,  and  no  rewards  could  be 
bestowed  upon  him  which  would  not  be  below  his  merit." 

Is  it  not  astonishing  that  such  a  historian  should  admit  of  a 
doubt,  whether  the  motives  of  Lorenzo  could  be  good  ones? 
Is  it  possible  to  read  his  own  history,  and  not  see  that  this  strug 
gle  was  merely  between  different  branches  of  the  same  family 
of  Medici  for  the  sovereignty,  and  that  there  was  not  a  ray  of 
public  virtue  or  love  of  liberty  left  in  any  of  them?  Strozzi, 
the  rival  family  of  Medici,  had  married  a  Medici,  and  could  not 
bear  that  Alexander  should  rule.  His  character  was  too  vile  to 
be  redeemed  from  infamy  by  his  hypocritical  affectation  of  repub 
lican  simplicity,  and  his  renouncing  all  titles  but  that  of  Philip ; 
but  he  had  great  family  connections,  and  was  countenanced  by 
France,  and  therefore  might  possibly  recover  his  influence  and 
power  in  Florence.  This  made  it  dangerous  for  the  historian  to 
mark  the  conduct  of  Lorenzo  with  that  decided  indignation 
which  it  merited. 


FLORENCE.  177 

"  Some  were  of  opinion  that  he  was  moved  to  this  action 
merely  by  the  malice  of  his  nature,  and  the  depravity  of  his  own 
heart ;  others  thought  that  he  ventured  on  this  danger  to  cancel 
the  ignominy  of  the  two  Roman  proclamations,  and  the  oration 
made  against  him  by  Molza ;  others  thought  him  agitated  solely 
by  desire  to  make  his  name  immortal,  an  ardent  passion,  that 
with  all  his  crimes  and  vices,  had  always  incredibly  tormented 
him." 

The  right  of  a  nation  to  depose  a  tyrant,  and  to  destroy  him 
if  he  cannot  be  otherwise  deposed,  is  as  clear  as  any  of  our 
ideas  of  right  or  wrong.  In  the  Roman  republic  it  was  made 
an  early  and  a  fundamental  law,  by  the  aristocratics  however, 
that  it  should  be  not  only  lawful,  but  meritorious  and  glorious, 
to  kill  a  tyrant ;  and  Brutus  therefore  acted  the  exalted  part  of 
the  best  citizen.  But  if  the  right  of  single  citizens,  when  good 
and  virtuous,  and  intending  only  the  public  good,  to  kill  a  tyrant 
was  as  clear  as  that  of  treading  on  the  head  of  an  adder,  or 
hunting  down  a  devouring  wolf,  it  would  by  no  means  follow 
that  one  tyrant  might  claim  a  right  to  destroy  another,  merely 
to  take  his  place. 

The  people  of  Florence  were  now  so  totally  devoted  to  the 
Medici  family,  that  there  was  no  party  among  them  but  what 
was  headed  by  some  branch  of  it;  the  blood  of  the  Medici  must 
in  all  events  govern  them  ;  and  the  difference  between  them  was 
worth  very  little.  Strozzi  and  Lorenzo  were  worse  than  Alex 
ander  ;  and  the  only  tolerably  good  man  among  them  was  Co- 
simo,  whom  they  all  hated,  but  whom  Providence  was  pleased 
to  call  to  the  government  in  this  awful  manner.  The  silly  tales 
of  prognostics,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  disciples  of  Savonarola, 
and  the  confusions  and  terrors  among  the  principal  people  upon 
the  first  suspicion  and  final  discovery  of  the  duke's  destiny,  are 
not  worth  repeating. 

"  The  council  of  forty-eight  were  assembled,  but  were  not 
agreed  in  opinion.  Canigiani  proposed,  that  in  place  of  the 
deceased  duke,  Giulio,  his  natural  son,  should  succeed ;  but  there 
was  no  other  person  present,  who  did  not  either  smile  at  his  folly 
or  express  indignation ;  for  besides  that  the  child  was  not  five 
years  old,  this  was  known  to  be  the  inclination  and  secret  mo 
tion  of  Cardinal  Cibo,  Lorenzo's  brother,  who  wished  to  be  the 
tutor,  and  therefore  governor  of  the  city.  After  him,  the  Signor 


178  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Cosimo  de'  Medici  was  proposed,  who,  knowing  nothing  of 
what  had  happened,  was  at  Mugello,  fifteen  miles  from  Florence, 
at  his  country-seat  of  Trebbio.  At  this  nomination  all  appeared 
to  be  struck,  and  looking  at  one  another,  seemed  ready  to  accept 
it,  every  one  knowing  that  Cosimo  was  the  next  heir  after  Lo- 
renzd,  according  to  the  declaration  of  the  emperor ;  but  Palla 
Rucellai,  without  doubt  in  favor  of  Philip  Strozzi,  to  whom  he 
was  attached,  warmly  opposed  this  proposition,  and  said,  that  so 
many  citizens,  and  of  such  consequence,  were  abroad,  that 
nothing  of  importance,  especially  so  great  an  affair,  ought  to  be 
determined  on;  and  notwithstanding  all  that  was  urged  by 
Francesco  Guicciardini,  and  Francesco  Vettori,  he  persisted  ob 
stinately  in  his  objections,  and  occasioned  some  confusion  in 
council.  At  another  day,  however,  Cosirno  was  elected  head  of 
the  commonwealth,  accepted  the  trust,  and  behaved  in  it  with  so 
much  wisdom,  that  those  who,  from  his  moderate  and  composed 
behavior  before,  believed  him  to  be  possessed  of  but  mean  abili 
ties,  were  constrained  to  confess,  that  God  had  granted  him  dis 
cretion  with  the  dukedom." 

Intelligence  was  scattered  throughout  all  Italy,  with  incredible 
celerity,  of  the  death  of  Alexander ;  and,  by  all  the  Florentine 
exiles,  the  name  of  Lorenzo  di  Pierfrancesco  de'  Medici  was 
exalted  in  praises  to  the  skies,  not  only  as  the  parallel  of  Brutus, 
but  greatly  surpassing  him.  Varchi  wonders  that  so  many  citi 
zens  of  great  prudence,  and  especially  Guicciardini,  who  con 
ducted  the  whole  of  this  election,  should  have  suffered  them 
selves  to  be  so  far  blinded  and  transported  by  their  ambition  or 
avarice,  or  both,  as  not  to  see  what  they  were  about.  Indeed, 
no  man  is  ever  to  be  praised,  perhaps  never  to  be  justified,  in 
consenting  to  the  surrender  of  a  free  government ;  and  Guic 
ciardini  appears  much  to  blame  for  not  endeavoring  to  new- 
model  the  commonwealth  upon  this  occasion.  But  most  proba 
bly  he  knew  what  Varchi  himself  confesses,*  that  the  Florentines 
were  at  this  time  all  either  avaricious  or  ambitious,  and  the 
major  part  of  them  proud,  envious,  and  malicious  ;  and  therefore 
that  none  of  them  could  be  trusted  by  him  or  by  each  other. 
He  probably  believed  that  delay,  or  any  attempt  to  restore  liberty 
or  reform  the  constitution,  would  only  give  an  opportunity  to 

*  Varchi,  p.  621. 


FLORENCE.  179 

Strozzi,  Lorenzo,  and  the  exiles,  to  assume  the  dukedom  in  real 
ity,  under  the  alliance  of  France ;  he  moreover  probably  thought 
it  impossible,  among  an  ignorant  people  and  so  many  corrupt 
factions,  to  amend  the  constitution,  and  that  a  sovereignty  in 
one  was  preferable  to  their  old  fluctuating  aristocracy,  disguised 
under  the  name  only  of  a  popular  state. 

The  exiles  were  still  restless,  and  endeavored  to  excite  fresh 
wars  against  their  country ;  but  Cosimo,  by  his  abilities,  address, 
and  activity,  defended  his  authority,  and  was  afterwards  con 
firmed,  not  only  as  head  of  the  state,  but  as  duke  and  sovereign. 
And  here  ended  the  shadow  of  a  free  government. 

Let  the  reader  now  run  over  again  in  his  own  mind  this  whole 
story  of  Florence,  and  ask  himself  whether  it  does  not  appear 
like  a  satire,  written  with  the  express  and  only  purpose  of  expos 
ing  to  contempt,  ridicule,  and  indignation,  the  i'dea  of  "  a  govern 
ment  in  one  centre,"  and  the  "  right  constitution  of  a  common 
wealth  ?  "  If  he  suspect  that  this  mean  sketch  is  in  any  degree 
varied  by  prejudice  from  the  truth,  let  him  read  over  any  histo 
rian  of  Florence,  as  Machiavel,  Guicciardini,  Nerli,  Nardi,  Var- 
chi,  Villani,  or  Ammirato,  and  then  say,  whether  it  is  not  a  libel 
upon  Turgot  and  Nedham.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end,  it 
is  one  continued  struggle  between  monarchy  and  aristocracy ;  a 
continued  succession  of  combinations  of  two  or  three  parties  of 
noble,  rich,  or  conspicuous  families,  to  depress  the  people  on  the 
one  hand,  and  prevent  an  oligarchy  or  a  monarchy  from  arising 
up  among  themselves  on  the  other.  Neither  the  first  family,  nor 
any  of  the  others  their  rivals,  made  any  account  of  the  people, 
excepting  now  and  then  for  a  moment,  for  the  purposes  of  vio 
lence,  sedition,  and  rebellion. 

Instead  of  devising  any  regular  method  for  calling  the  people 
together,  with  a  reasonable  notification  beforehand  of  the  time, 
place,  and  subject  of  deliberation,  a  little  junto  of  principal  citi 
zens  concert  a  plan  in  secret  among  themselves,  give  notice  pre 
viously  to  such  as  they  please,  their  own  dependents  and  parti 
sans,  order  the  bells  to  be  rung,  and  a  little  flock  of  their  own 
creatures  assemble  in  the  piazza.  There  the  junto  nominate  a 
dozen  or  a  score  of  persons  for  a  balia,  to  reform  the  state  at 
their  pleasure ;  no  reasonable  method  of  voting  for  them,  no 
instructions  given  them ;  the  people  huzza,  and  all  is  over. 


180  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

What  ideas  are  here  of  the  rights  of  mankind  ?  what  equality  is 
here  among  the  citizens  ?  what  principle  of  national  liberty  is 
here  respected?  what  method  is  this  to  obtain  the  national 
sense,  the  public  voice  ?  Can  this  be  called  the  voice  of  God  ? 

When  the  balia  is  appointed,  what  is  the  question  before 
them  ?  Is  there  any  inquiry  how  the  government  can  be  made 
a  fair,  equal,  and  constant  representation  of  the  nation,  and  a 
sure  instrument  for  collecting  the  public  wisdom  ?  The  imbor- 
sations  are  made,  and  eight  hundred  names  are  put  in  the  purses. 
These  alone  are  citizens ;  all  the  rest  are  to  have  no  vote. 
These  appoint  the  signori,  a  small  council,  for  the  ordinary 
administration,  and  the  gonfalonier,  who  has  no  more  power 
than  a  doge  of  Venice,  nor  so  much  dignity.  The  great  coun 
cil  is  the  centre  in  which  all  authority  is  collected,  and  he  who 
had  most  influence  in  it  governed  in  reality,  whoever  were  the 
signori  or  the  gonfalonier  ;  consequently,  the  council  and  signori 
too  were  always  divided  into  parties,  at  the  head  of  whom  were 
always  two  of  the  most  noted  families  ;  and  the  only  question 
really  was,  which  should  be  first.  As  the  waves  and  winds 
determined,  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  another  prevailed, 
and  took  vengeance  of  their  opponents  by  banishments  and  con 
fiscations.  The  executive  power  was  sometimes  managed  by 
the  signori,  and  sometimes  by  the  grand  council ;  the  judicial 
power  was  always  the  tool  of  the  prevailing  faction.  Was  there 
one  year,  one  moment,  in  the  whole  history,  when  the  citizens 
could  be  truly  said  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  liberty,  equality, 
safety,  and  good  order  ? 

If  you  fix  your  eye  upon  any  period,  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  republic,  and  suppose  the  gonfalonier  possessed 
of  the  whole  executive  power,  with  a  negative  upon  the  legisla 
ture,  the  signori  and  grand  council  made  separate  and  independ 
ent  branches  of  the  legislature,  though  elected  periodically  by  the 
people,  and  the  judges  made  during  good  behavior,  would  not 
those  terrible  disorders  have  been  prevented  ?  The  negative  to 
the  gonfalonier  is  not  proposed,  because  he  is  a  wiser  or  a  better 
man  than  others,  but  merely  as  a  constitutional  instrument  of 
self-defence  ;  without  it,  he  cannot  defend  the  legal  authority 
which  the  constitution  has  given  him,  but  the  executive  power 
will  be  pared  away,  or  wrested  out  of  his  hands,  by  the  encroach 
ing  disposition  of  human  nature  in  the  two  houses.  If  he  wan- 


FLORENCE.  181 

tonly  uses  his  negative  for  other  purposes,  a  case  that  can  rarely 
happen,  a  new  gonfalonier  must  be  appointed  ;  but  if  his  minis 
ters  are  made  responsible  for  the  advice  they  give  him,  the  two 
houses  will  always  have  a  remedy.  An  honest  representative 
of  the  commons  will  always  have  another  remedy,  by  withhold 
ing  supplies. 

As  this  account  of  Florence  was  introduced  by  some  reflec 
tions  of  a  modern  author,  it  cannot  be  concluded  with  more  pro 
priety  than  by  some  others  from  the  same  able  and  liberal  writer 
In  his  Parallel  of  the  Italian  Republics  of  the  Middle  Ages  with 
those  of  Ancient  Italy,  he  says,*  "  Whoever  shall  read  in  the 
Annals  of  the  Cities  of  Lombardy  and  in  the  Chronicles  of  Tus 
cany,  how  the  people  passed  so  frequently,  both  in  external  wars 
and  in  civil  factions,  from  battles  to  peace,  and  from  domestic 
life  to  arms  and  hostilities,  and  that  perpetual  succession  of 
accords,  rebellions,  and  tumults,  will  be  apt  to  believe  that  he 
sees,  copied  under  different  names,  the  wars  of  the  Romans  with 
the  Latins  and  the  Volsci,  the  continual  quarrels  of  the  ple 
beians  with  the  patricians,  and  the  animosities  of  the  senate 
against  the  tribunes  ;  and  sometimes  it  will  happen  to  him,  that 
in  reading,  for  example,  the  Florentine  History  of  Scipione 
Ammirato,  he  will  think  he  has  in  his  hand  a  translation  into  his 
own  language  of  Livy.  The  manner  of  proclaiming  and  prose 
cuting  war,  and  of  concluding  peace,  which  was  practised  by  the 
ancient  Italians  in  the  time  of  Camillus  and  of  Pyrrhus,  is  not 
very  different  from  that  which  we  observe  in  the  age  of  Frederic 
II.  and  the  Manfreds  ;  and,  in  the  internal  concerns  of  the  cities, 
both  in  the  one  and  the  other  period,  the  cruelty  and  the  pride 
of  the  nobles  towards  the  plebeians,  and  the  injustice  of  the  peo 
ple  in  their  demands,  as  soon  as  they  had  discovered  their  own 
strength,  and  had  begun  to  lay  their  hands  on  the  government, 
were  equal.  The  one  and  the  other  were  animated  with  the 
same  spirit,  agitated  by  the  same  humors,  and  subject  to  the 
same  revolutions.  That  supreme  love  of  their  country,  which, 
on  occasions  of  public  danger,  silenced  and  appeased  their  pri 
vate  quarrels  and  enmities,  reigned  equally  at  all  times  in  both  ; 
the  same  simplicity  of  manners,  the  same  severity  of  life,  the 
same  patience  of  poverty  and  fatigue.  To  this  is  to  be  added, 

*  Denina,  Rivoluzioni  d'  Italia,  lib.  xii.  cap.  v.  vol.  ii.  p.  241. 
VOL.  V.  16 


182  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  use  and  exercise  of  arms,  by  which  every  little  nation,  if  it 
cannot  make  extensive  conquests,  at  least  may  preserve  its  own 
liberty.  Finally,  he  will  observe  with  pleasure,  how,  after  the 
ancient  Italians,  and  those  people  who  in  the  middle  ages  arose 
from  the  ruins  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards  and  of  the  second 
western  empire,  the  cities  which  appear  to  have  had  the  narrow 
est  territory  and  the  most  modern  original,  not  only  maintained 
their  freedom  for  a  long  time,  but  increased  in  power  and  domi 
nion  ;  whereas  the  most  able  and  the  most  ancient  passed  more 
easily  under  the  yoke,  either  of  tyrants  of  their  own,  or  of  foreign 
powers.  We  shall  see,  in  like  manner,  a  great  resemblance  in 
the  fortune  of  the  tyrants  of  the  ancient  Italian  cities  and  those 
of  the  republics  of  Tuscany  and  Lombardy,  in  the  age  of  Frede 
ric  II.  and  the  following ;  and  may  very  well  find  reasons  to 
compare  Ezzelino  of  Romagna  with  Tarquin  the  Proud ;  the 
Marquis  Oberto  Pelavicino,  Buoso-da-Doara,  and  Martino  della 
Torre,  with  Porsenna,  King  of  Chiusi,  and  with  other  like 
princes  or  supreme  magistrates  of  the  ancient  Tuscans,  Latins, 
Campanians,  and  Samnites.  From  which  we  have  shown  that 
the  free  and  independent  cities  passed  sometimes  under  the  yoke 
of  some  powerful  citizen,  who  made  himself  the  master,  or  under 
the  dominion  of  a  tyrant  of  some  other  neighboring  city  ;  so  that 
a  signor  of  Padua,  of  Milan,  or  of  Verona,  obtained  the  govern 
ment  of  many  other  cities  of  Lombardy,  equally  free  and  inde 
pendent." 


CHAPTER   FOURTH. 


MACHIAVEL,  from  his  long  experience  of  the  miseries  of  Flo 
rence  in  his  own  times,  and  his  knowledge  of  their  history,  per 
ceived  many  of  the  defects  in  every  plan  of  a  constitution  they 
had  ever  attempted.  His  sagacity,  too,  perceived  the  necessity 
of  three  powers ;  but  he  did  not  see  an  equal  necessity  for  the 
separation  of  the  executive  power  from  the  legislative.  The 
following  project  contains  excellent  observations,  but  would  not 
have  remedied  the  evils.  The  appointment  of  officers  in  the 
council  of  a  thousand  would  have  ruined  all  the  good  effects  of 
the  other  divisions  of  power.  There  is  some  doubt  about  the 
time  when  it  was  written ;  Nerli  and  Nardi  think  it  was  ad 
dressed  to  Clement  VII.,  but  the  English  editor  supposes  it  was 
Leo  X.,  and  his  opinion  is  here  followed. 

About  the  year  1519,  Leo  X.,*  being  informed  of  the  discords 
that  were  ready  to  break  out  in  Florence,  gave  a  commission  to 
Machiavel  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  reformation  of  that  state. 
He  executed  this  commission  with  great  abilities,  and  the  most 
exquisite  subtilty  of  his  genius  ;  and  produced  a  model,  in  the 
opinion  of  some,  of  a  perfect  commonwealth.  The  sovereign 
power  is  lodged,  both  of  right  and  in  fact,  in  the  citizens  them 
selves. 

"  There  are  three  orders  of  men  in  every  state,  and  for  that 
reason  there  should  be  also  three  ranks  or  degrees  in  a  republic, 
and  no  more ;  nor  can  that  be  said  to  be  a  true  and  durable 
commonwealth,  where  certain  humors  and  inclinations  are  not 
gratified,  which  otherwise  must  naturally  end  in  its  ruin. 

"  Those  who  model  a  commonwealth,  must  take  such  provi 
sions  as  may  gratify  three  sorts  of  men,  of  which  all  states  are 
composed  ;  that  is,  the  high,  the  middle  sort,  and  the  low." 

Machiavel  by  these  observations  demonstrates,  that  he  was 
fully  convinced  of  this  great  truth,  this  eternal  principle,  without 
the  knowledge  of  which  every  speculation  upon  government 
must  be  imperfect,  and  every  scheme  of  a  commonwealth  essen- 

*  Discourse  upon  the  proper  Ways  and  Means  of  reforming  the  Government  of 
Florence,  Eng.  edit.  vol.  iv.  p.  263. 


184  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

tially  defective.  Taking  this  fundamental  principle  along  with 
us,  let  us  give  an  abridgment  of  this  valuable  discourse. 

"  The  reason  why  Florence  has  so  often  changed  its  form  of 
government  is,  because  there  never  was  yet  either  a  common 
wealth  or  monarchy  established  there  upon  true  principles.  A 
monarchy  cannot  be  stable,  where  the  business,  which  should  be 
directed  by  one,1  is  submitted  to  the  determination  of  many ; 
nor  can  a  commonwealth  be  durable  where  humors  are  not  gra 
tified,  which  must  otherwise  be  the  ruin  of  it.  Maso  moulded 
the  republic  into  a  sort  of  aristocracy,*  in  which  there  were  so 
many  defects,  that  it  did  not  continue  above  forty  years,  nor 
would  it  have  lasted  so  long,  but  for  wars  which  kept  it  united. 
The  defects  were,  that  power  was  continued  too  long  in  the 
same  persons;  that  the  elections  were  subject  to  fraud  and 
underhand  practices ;  there  was  no  check  upon  the  grandees, 
to  deter  them  from  forming  parties  and  factions,  which  are  the 
destruction  of  a  state.  The  signori  had  but  little  reputation, 
while  they  had  too  much  authority  ;  they  had  a  power  of  taking 
away  the  life  and  property  of  any  citizen  without  appeal,  and 
of  calling  the  people  together  to  a  conference  whenever  they 
pleased ;  so  that  instead  of  being  a  defence  and  protection  to 
the  state,  they  were  rather  an  instrument  of  its  ruin,  when  they 
were  under  the  influence  of  any  popular  or  ambitious  man  ;  raw 
young  men  of  little  experience  and  abject  condition,  were  intro 
duced  into  the  signori ;  but  what  was  of  the  last  consequence 
was,  that  the  people  had  no  share  at  all  in  the  government.  All 
these  defects  together  occasioned  infinite  disorder  and  confusion, 
and  if  wars  had  not  kept  the  state  united,  it  must  have  been  dis 
solved  long  before  it  was. 

"  This  form  was  succeeded  by  that  of  Cosimo.  Afterwards 
the  city  endeavored  to  resume  the  form  of  a  republic,  but  the 
measures  taken  were  neither  calculated  to  gratify  the  humors  of  all 
the  citizens,  nor  had  sufficient  force  to  correct  them  ;  so  far  from 
being  a  true  and  perfect  commonwealth,  a  gonfalonier  for 
life,  if  an  able  and  bad  man,  might  easily  have  made  himself 
absolute  lord;  if  a  weak  and  good  man,  he  might  have  been 
pulled  from  his  seat,  and  that  establishment  overturned.  There 

1  "  Dove  le  cose  si  fanno  secondo  die  vuole  imo,  e  si  deliberano  con  il  consenso 
di  molti." 

*  Hist,  of  Florence,  b.  iii.     See  page  66  of  this  volume. 


FLORENCE.  185 

was  not  strength  in  that  government  to  support  the  standard- 
bearer,  if  a  good  man,  nor  to  check  and  control  him  if  a  bad  one. 
The  reforms  which  were  made  were  not  with  any  view  to  the 
public  good,  but  to  strengthen  and  support  different  factions  in 
their  turns.  Even  the  ends  of  faction  were  not  answered,  be 
cause  there  was  always  a  discontented  party,  which  proved  a 
very  powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of  those  that  were  desir 
ous  to  effect  any  change  or  innovation  in  the  state. 

"  No  form  of  government  can  be  devised  that  will  be  firm  and 
lasting,  which  is  not  either  a  true  principality,  or  a  true  common 
wealth.  All  intermediate  forms  between  these  two  extremes 
will  be  defective  ;  for  a  principality  can  only  be  ruined  one  way, 
and  that  is,  by  descending  into  a  commonwealth  ;  the  same  may 
be  said  of  a  commonwealth  also ;  for  the  only  way  by  which  it 
can  be  ruined,  is  by  ascending  to  a  principality.  All  interme 
diate  forms  may  be  ruined  two  ways,  that  is,  either  by  ascend^ 
ing  to  a  principality,  or  descending  into  a  commonwealth ;  and 
this  is  the  cause  of  their  instability. 

"  Those  who  model  a  commonwealth  must  make  such  provi 
sions  as  may  gratify  three  sorts  of  men,  of  which  all  states  are 
composed,  that  is,  the  high,  the  middle  sort,  and  the  low ;  and 
though  there  is  a  great  equality  among  the  citizens  of  Florence, 
yet  there  are  some  there  who  think  so  highly  of  themselves,  that 
they  would  expect  to  have  the  precedence  of  others ;  and  these 
people  must  be  gratified  in  regulating  the  commonwealth. 
These  people  then  will  never  be  satisfied,  if  they  have  not  the 
first  rank  and  honors  in  the  commonwealth,  which  dignity  they 
ought  to  support  by  their  own  personal  weight  and  importance. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  gratify  the  ambition  of  all  the  three 
several  ranks  of  people ;  which  may  be  done  by  electing  sixty- 
five  citizens,  of  not  less  than  forty-five  years  of  age,  in  order  to 
give  dignity  to  the  government,  fifty-three  out  of  the  highest 
class,  and  twelve  out  of  the  next,  who  should  continue  in  the 
administration  for  life,  subject  to  the  following  restrictions  :  —  In 
the  first  place,  one  of  them  should  be  appointed  gonfalonier 
of  justice  for  a  term  of  two  or  three  years,  if  it  is  not  thought 
proper  to  appoint  one  for  life  ;  and  in  the  next,  the  other  sixty- 
four  citizens,  already  elected,  should  be  divided  into  two  distinct 
bodies,  each  consisting  of  thirty -two ;  one  of  which  divisions,  in 
conjunction  with  the  standard-bearer,  should  govern  the  first 


186  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

year,  and  the  other  the  next ;  so  that  they  won  Id  be  changed 
alternately  every  year,  and  all  together  should  be  called  the 
signoria. 

"After  this,  let  the  thirty- two  be  divided  into  four  parts,  eight 
in  each ;  every  one  of  which  should  reside  three  months  in  its 
turn  with  the  standard-bearer,  in  the  palace,  and  not  only  assume 
the  magistracy  with  the  usual  forms  and  ceremonies,  but  trans 
act  all  the  business  which  before  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
signori,  the  council  of  eight,  and  the  other  councils,  all  which 
must  be  dissolved.  This  should  be  the  first  member,  or  rather 
the  head  of  the  state,  and  by  this  provision  the  dignity  of  the 
signori  will  be  restored ;  for  as  none  but  men  of  gravity  and 
authority  will  ever  sit  there,  it  will  be  no  longer  necessary  to 
employ  private  men  in  the  affairs  of  state  (which  is  always  of 
prejudice  to  any  republic)  since  the  thirty-two  who  are  not  in 
office  that  year  may  be  advised  with  upon  occasion,  sent  upon 
embassies,  and  made  useful  in  other  functions. 

"Let  us  now  come  to  the  second  order  in  the  state.  Since 
there  are  three  orders  of  men  in  every  state,  there  should  also  be 
three  ranks  or  degrees  in  a  republic,  arid  no  more ;  upon  which 
account  it  is  necessary  to  prevent  the  confusion  occasioned  of 
late  by  the  multiplicity  of  councils  in  our  city,  which  have  been 
established,  not  because  they  were  conducive  to  good  order,  but 
merely  to  create  friends  and  dependents,  and  to  gratify  the  humor 
and  ambition  of  numbers,  in  a  point  which  yet  was  of  no  service 
to  liberty  or  the  public,  because  they  might  all  be  corrupted  and 
biased  by  party.  The  council  of  seventy,  that  of  a  hundred,  and 
that  of  the  people  and  commonalty,  should  all  be  abolished ;  and, 
in  the  room  of  them,  I  would  appoint  a  council  of  two  hundred, 
every  member  of  which  should  be  not  less  than  forty  years  of 
age ;  a  hundred  and  sixty  of  them  to  be  taken  out  of  the  middle 
class,  and  the  other  forty  out  of  the  lowest,  but  not  one  out  of 
the  sixty-five.  They  should  also  continue  for  life,  and  be  called 
the  council  elect ;  which  council,  in  conjunction  with  the  sixty- 
five,  should  trarisact  all  the  affairs  that  used  to  be  transacted  by 
the  above-mentioned  councils,  now  supposed  to  be  abolished,  and 
vested  with  the  same  degree  of  authority,  and  all  the  members 
of  it  appointed  by  your  holiness ;  for  which  purpose,  as  well  as 
to  maintain  and  regulate  these  provisions,  and  others  that  I  shall 
mention  hereafter,  it  is  necessary  that  a  degree  of  authority,  equal 


FLORENCE.  187 

to  that  of  the  whole  collective  body  of  the  people  of  Florence, 
should  be  vested  by  a  balia  in  your  holiness  and  the  Cardinal  de' 
Medici,  during  the  lives  of  both  ;  and  that  the  magistracy  of  the 
eight  di  guardia,  as  well  as  the  balia,  should  be  appointed  from 
time  to  time  by  your  holiness.  It  is  likewise  expedient,  for  the 
support  of  your  authority,  that  your  holiness  should  divide  the 
militia  into  distinct  corps,  over  which  you  may  appoint  two 
commissioners,  one  for  each. 

"  By  these  provisions  two  out  of  the  three  classes  may  be  tho 
roughly  satisfied.  It  remains  now  to  satisfy  the  third  and  lowest 
rank  of  the  citizens,  which  constitutes  the  greater  part  of  the 
people.  For  this  purpose  it  will  be  necessary  also  to  revive  the 
council  of  a  thousand,  or  at  least  one  of  six  hundred  citizens, 
who  should  nominate  all  the  magistrates  and  officers,  in  the  same 
manner  they  used  to  do  formerly,  except  the  above  sixty-five,  the 
council  of  two  hundred,  the  eight  di  guardia,  and  the  balia. 
Without  satisfying  the  common  people,  no  republic  ever  yet 
stood  upon  a  stable  foundation. 

"  The  state  being  thus  modelled,  no  other  provisions  would  be 
wanting,  if  your  holiness  and  the  cardinal  were  to  live  for  ever ; 
but,  as  you  are  subject  to  mortality,  it  is  necessary,  if  you  would 
have  the  republic  continue  firm  and  strongly  supported  on  every 
side,  in  such  manner  that  every  one  may  see  himself  perfectly 
secure,  that  there  should  be  sixteen  standard-bearers  appointed 
over  the  companies  of  the  citizens,  which  may  be  done  either  by 
your  own  authority,  or  by  leaving  the  appointment  to  the  great 
council,  remembering  only  to  increase  the  number  of  the  divieri, 
assistants  to  the  gonfalonier  and  commanding  detachments  of 
the  people  under  him,  that  so  they  may  be  more  spread  over  the 
city,  and  that  none  of  the  gonfaloniers  should  be  of  the  sixty-five. 
After  their  appointment,  four  proposti  should  be  drawn  out  of 
them  by  lot,  and  continue  in  office  one  month ;  so  that  at  the 
end  of  four  months  they  will  all  have  been  proposti.  Out  of 
these  four,  one  should  be  drawn,  to  reside  for  a  week  only  with 
the  eight  signers  and  the  gonfaloniers  in  the  palace ;  by  which 
rotation  all  the  four  will  have  kept  their  residence  there  at  the 
end  of  the  month.  Without  the  presence  of  this  officer,  the  said 
resident  signori  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass  any  act;  nor 
should  he  himself  have  any  vote  there,  but  only  be  a  witness  and 
inspector  of  their  proceedings,  to  which  he  may  be  suffered  to 


188  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

put  a  stop  till  he  has  asked  the  opinion  of  all  the  thirty-two  toge 
ther,  and  had  the  matter  fully  discussed  by  them.  But  even  the 
thirty-two,  when  all  together,  should  not  have  power  to  resolve 
upon  any  thing,  except  two  of  the  said  proposti  were  present, 
who  should  have  no  further  authority  than  to  put  a  stop  to  their 
resolutions  for  a  time,  and  report  them  to  the  council  elect ;  nor 
should  that  council  have  a  power  of  resolving  upon  any  thing, 
except  six  at  least  of  the  sixteen  gonfaloniers,  and  two  proposti) 
were  there,  who  should  only  have  the  liberty  of  taking  the  matter 
out  of  the  hands  of  that  council,  and  referring  it  to  the  great 
council,  provided  that  any  three  of  them  should  think  it  necessary 
so  to  do ;  and  as  to  the  great  council,  it  should  not  be  allowed 
to  meet,  unless  twelve  of  the  gonfaloniers  and  three  of  the  pro 
posti  at  least  were  there,  who  might  give  their  votes  in  it  like  the 
other  citizens. 

"  This  order  should  be  observed  after  the  death  of  your  holiness 
and  the  cardinal,  for  two  reasons :  In  the  first  place,  that,  if  the 
signory  or  other  council  should  either  disagree  in  their  resolutions, 
or  attempt  any  thing  against  the  public  good,  there  might  be 
somebody  vested  with  a  power  to  take  the  matter  out  of  their 
hands,  and  refer  it  to  the  people ;  for  it  would  be  a  great  defect  in 
the  constitution,  that  any  one  set  of  magistrates,  or  single  council, 
should  have  a  power  to  pass  a  law  by  its  own  authority  alone,  and 
that  too  without  any  remedy  or  appeal;  upon  which  account  it  is 
highly  necessary  that  the  citizens  should  have  some  proper  officers, 
not  (5nly  to  inspect  their  proceedings,  but  even  to  put  a  stop  to 
them,  if  they  seem  to  be  of  pernicious  tendency.1 

"  Besides  this,  in  order  to  give  such  a  degree  of  stability  and 
perfection  to  the  commonwealth,  that  no  part  of  it  may  shrink 
or  fail  after  the  decease  of  your  holiness  and  the  cardinal,  it  is 
necessary  that  a  court  should  be  erected  upon  occasion,  consisting 
of  the  eight  di  guardia  and  a  balia  of  thirty  citizens,  to  be  chosen 
by  lot  out  of  the  council  of  two  hundred  and  that  of  six  hundred 
together ;  which  court  should  have  a  power,  in  criminal  cases, 

1  The  other  reason  is  omitted,  which  is  singular,  as  it  appears  to  have  some 
bearing  on  th0  reasoning  of  the  author. 

"  The  other  reason  is,  that,  in  depriving  the  generality  of  the  citizens,  by  sup 
pressing  the  signory  as  is  now  done,  of  the  power  to  be  of  the  signori,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  restore  to  them  a  grade  which  may  resemble  that  of  which  they  are 
deprived ;  and  the  one  proposed  should  be  such  that  it  is  greater,  more  useful  to 
the  republic,  and  more  honorable  than  that  was." 


FLORENCE.  189 

of  summoning  the  accuser  and  accused  to  appear  face  to  face 
before  it  in  a  certain  time. 

"  Such  a  court  is  of  great  use  in  a  commonwealth ;  for  a  few 
citizens  are  afraid  to  call  great  and  powerful  delinquents  to  ac 
count,  and  therefore  it  is  necessary  that  many  should  concur  for 
that  purpose,  that  so,  when  their  judgments  are  concealed,  as 
they  may  be  by  balloting,  every  man  may  give  his  opinion  freely 
and  in  security. 

"The  highest  honor  that  can  be  attained  by  any  man,  is 
that  which  is  voluntarily  conferred  on  him  by  his  countrymen ; 
and  the  greatest  good  he  can  do,  as  well  as  the  most  acceptable 
to  God,  is  that  which  he  does  to  his  country.  None  are  to  be 
compared  to  those  who  have  reformed  kingdoms  and  common 
wealths  by  wholesome  laws  and  constitutions ;  but  as  there  have 
been  but  few  that  have  had  an  opportunity  to  do  this,  the  number 
is  very  small  that  have  done  it.  This  kind  of  glory  has  always 
been  so  much  coveted  by  such  as  made  glory  the  sole  end  of 
their  labors,  that  when  they  have  not  had  power  either  to  found 
or  reform  a  state,  they  have  left  models  and  plans  in  writing,  to 
be  executed  by  others,  who  should  have,  in  future  times ;  as 
Plato,  Aristotle,  and  many  others,  who  have  shown  that,  if  they 
did  not  found  free  states  themselves,  like  Solon  and  Lycurgus, 
it  was  not  owing  either  to  ignorance  or  want  of  good-will  to 
mankind,  but  to  want  of  power.  Heaven,  then,  cannot  bestow 
a  nobler  gift  upon  any  man,  nor  point  out  a  fairer  road  to  true 
glory. 

"  If  things  continue  as  they  are,  whenever  any  commotion  or 
insurrection  shall  happen,  either  some  head  will  be  appointed  in 
a  sudden  and  tumultuary  manner,  who  will  rescue  the  state  by 
violence  and  force  of  arms,  or  one  part  of  the  citizens  will 
open  the  council  of  a  thousand  again,  and  sacrifice  the  other 
without  mercy.  In  case  either  of  these  events  should  happen, 
your  holiness  will  be  pleased  to  consider  how  many  executions, 
how  many  banishments  and  confiscations  must  of  necessity 
ensue;  a  reflection  which  must  surely  shock  the  most  hard-hearted 
man  alive,  much  more  a  man  of  that  remarkable  humanity  and 
tenderness  which  have  always  distinguished  your  holiness.  The 
only  way,  then,  to  prevent  these  evils,  is  to  establish  the  several 
classes  and  ordinances  of  the  commonwealth  in  such  a  manner 
that  they  may  support  themselves  ;  and  they  will  always  be  able 


190  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

to  do  this  when  each  rank  has  its  due  share  in  the  administration, 
when  every  one  knows  his  proper  sphere  of  action,  and  whom  he 
can  confide  in;  and,  lastly,  when  no  one  has  any  occasion  to 
wish  for  a  change  of  government,  either  because  his  ambition  is 
not  thoroughly  gratified,  or  that  he  does  not  think  himself  suffi 
ciently  secure  under  such  an  administration." 


CHAPTER   FIFTH. 

SIENA. 

THE  antiquity  of  the  city  of  Siena  is  proved  by  the  notice  of 
Pliny,  Tacitus,  and  Ptolemy,  if  not  by  another  circumstance 
mentioned  by  its  historian,  namely,  —  the  splendor  of  certain 
families  among  its  citizens,*  nobility  being  only  an  ancient  virtue, 
accompanied  with  the  splendor  of  riches.  The  tradition,  that  it 
was  first  planted  by  Remus,  can  hardly  be  supported  by  the  single 
circumstance,  that  the  ensigns  of  the  city  are  a  wolf  giving  suck 
to  two  infants. 

Siena  was  built  by  the  ancient  Tuscans,  whose  province  was 
anciently  inhabited  by  the  Umbrians,  who  were  driven  out  by 
the  Pelasgians  from  Arcadia,  who  were  afterwards  driven  out  by 
the  Lydians  from  Asia,  five  hundred  and  sixty  years  before  Rome 
was  built.  These,  from  Tirrhenus  their  king,  were  called  after 
wards  Tirrhenians  ;  and  because  they  used  in  their  sacrifices  great 
quantities  of  frankincense,  thus^  they  were  called  Thuscans,  and 
their  country  Tuscany,  by  others  called  Etruria.  f  Livy  repre 
sents  the  Etrurians  as  abounding  in  wealth,  and  filling  the  whole 
length  of  Italy,  from  the  Alps  to  the  straits  of  Sicily,  with  their 
fame ;  and,  in  another  place,  represents  the  Tuscan  empire  as 
much  more  ancient  than  the  Roman.  $  They  inhabited  twelve 
cities ;  the  form  of  their  government  was  a  confederacy,  like  that 
of  the  modern  Swiss,  Dutch,  and  Americans. 

"The  twelve  cities,  peoples,  or  divisions  of  territory  rather, 
were  called  Lucumoni,  from  the  magistrates  annually  chosen  to 
govern  ihe  whole  province  of  Tuscany.  Twelve  annual  magis 
trates  were  chosen,  one  by  each  city,  to  govern  the  whole  pro 
vince,  called  Larte's  and  Lucumones ;  the  names  of  these  cities 
were  Luna,  Pisa,  Populonia,  Volterra,  Roselle,  Fiesole,  Agillina, 

*  Siena  dallo  splendore  delle  famiglie  s'  era  nobilitata,  —  essendo  proprio  la 
nobilta  una  antica  virtu  accompagnata  dallo  splendore  delle  ricchezze.  Historic, 
del.  Sig.  Orlando  Malavolti,  de'  fatti,  e  Guerre  de'  Sanest,  cosi  esterne,  come  civili, 
p.  4. 

f  Malavolti,  p.  9,  10. 

j  Tuscorum  ante  Romanum  imperium  late  terra  marique  opes  patuere ;  mari 
supero  inferoque,  quibus  Italia  insulae  modo  cingitur  ....  E  in  utrumque  mare 
vergentes  incoluere  urbibus  duodenis  terras. 


192  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Vulsino,  Chiusi,  Arezzo,  Perugia,  and  Faleria,  the  ruins  of  which 
are  near  to  Viterbo.  In  the  same  manner  was  the  republic  of 
the  Achaians  afterwards  formed  by  the  Greeks,  the  twelve  cities 
of  which  are  enumerated  by  Polybius.  Not  unlike  this  republic 
of  the  Tuscans  was  that  of  the  Latins,  who,  upon  public  occa 
sions,  assembled  in  a  certain  place  under  Mount  Albanus,  called 
the  Forest  of  Ferentina ;  where,  having  deliberated  in  council 
upon  their  affairs,  they  gave  the  charge  of  the  execution  of  their 
resolutions  to  two  praetors.*  It  is  true  that  sometimes,  at  the 
exchange  of  magistrates,  the  Tuscans,  varying  the  form  of  their 
government,  by  agreement  among  themselves  created  a  king; 
and  each  one  of  the  twelve  peoples  of  the  twelve  principal  cities 
concurred  to  give  him  a  minister,  whom  the  Romans  afterwards 
denominated  a  lictor.  And  of  so  much  grandeur,  and  so  illus 
trious  an  example,  were  the  government,  the  ceremonies,  the  reli 
gion,  and  the  other  qualities  of  the  Tuscans,  that  Romulus,  in 
imitation  of  them,  in  giving  laws  to  the  Romans  ordained,  be 
sides  the  habit  of  the  robe  and  the  cloak,  the  curule  chair,  and 
the  same  number  of  ministers,  determining  a  corresponding  num 
ber  of  lictors.  This  is  told  us  by  Livy :  '  Et  hoc  genus  ab  Etruscis 
finitimis,  unde  sella  curulis,  unde  toga  prsetexta  sumpta  est, 
numerum  quoque  ipsum  ductum  placet,  et  ita  habuisse  Etruscos, 
quod  ex  duodecim  populis  communiter  create  rege,  singulos  sin- 
guli  populi  lictores  dederint.' 

"  With  this  mode  of  regimen,  and  this  form  of  government, 
with  their  union  and  virtue,  the  Tuscans  augmented  their  empire 
so  greatly,  that  it  extended  to  the  Alps,  which  separate  Italy  from 
France,  and  from  one  sea  to  the  other ;  one  of  which  was  named 
from  them  the  Tuscan,  and  the  other  the  Adriatic,  from  the  city 
Adria,  which  was  their  colony,  and  under  their  dominion.  Having 
acquired  all  that  part  of  Italy  which  was  afterwards  called  Cis 
alpine  Gaul,  in  order  to  hold  it  more  securely,  and  give  room  to 
their  people,  by  relieving  Tuscany  of  so  great  a  number  of  inha 
bitants,  they  sent  into  it  twelve  colonies.  In  this  manner  they 
proceeded,  augmenting  and  amplifying  their  empire  on  every 
side,  for  seven  hundred  and  thirty  years,  until,  in  the  reign  of 

*  Concilium  Latinorum  erat  ut  omnes  Latini  nominis  rerum  communium  causa 
ad  Lucum  Ferentinae,  qui  erat  sub  monte  Albano,  coirent,  ibique  de  summa  rep. 
consultarent,  ac  duobus  praetoribus  rem  universam  Latinorum  comniitterent. 
Sigonius,  upon  the  authority  of  Dionysius. 


SIENA.  193 

Tarquinius  Priscus,  the  Gauls  took  possession  of  that  part  of 
Italy,  which  they  called  Cisalpine  Gaul,  one  part  of  which  was 
afterwards  called  Lombardy,  and  the  other  Romagna.  Then  the 
empire  of  the  Tuscans  began  to  decline,  because  on  one  side  they 
were  combated  by  the  Gauls,  and  on  the  other  by  the  Romans ; 
and  having,  by  the  abundance  of  wealth,  become  ambitious  and 
avaricious,  discord,  following  the  train  of  those  vices,  changed  the 
form  of  their  government,  and  destroyed  their  prosperity;  and 
this  empire,  which,  by  its  union  and  good  order,  had  grown  up, 
and,  computing  from  its  beginning  to  its  dissolution,  subsisted 
more  than  a  thousand  years,  easily  ruined  itself  by  means  of 
contentions,  occasioned  by  habits  adverse  to  the  virtues  by  which 
it  had  been  gained.  Dispossessed  by  the  Gauls  of  all  their  terri 
tory  beyond  the  Apennines,  and  continually  molested  in  Tuscany 
by  the  Romans,  they  were  no  longer  united  in  the  defence  of 
each  other,  by  reason  of  the  variety  creeping  into  the  form  of 
government  in  the  separate  cities,  occasioned  by  ambition,  ava 
rice,  and  luxury;  vices  opposed  to  each  other,  but  powerful  to 
ruin  a  great  empire.  When  they  saw  the  most  manifest  danger 
of  the  ruin  of  the  whole,  they  exerted  all  their  force,  but  were  no 
longer  able  to  defend  themselves.  The  other  Tuscans,  from  an 
indignation  against  the  Veientes  for  having  separately  elected  a 
king,  looked  on  with  indifference  while  the  Romans  subjected 
that  people.  Livy  says,  the  Veientes,  to  avoid  the  tedious  con 
tentions  of  ambition,  which  was  sometimes  the  cause  of  dissen 
sions,  created  a  king,  and  thus  gave  great  offence  to  the  other 
peoples  of  Etruria,  not  more  by  their  hatred  of  that  form  of  go 
vernment,  than  from  their  detestation  of  the  man.* 

"  Tuscany,  after  long  wars,  many  victories  and  defeats,  and 
the  destruction  of  a  great  number  of  citizens,  was  finally  sub 
jected  to  the  dominion  of  the  Romans,  by  Q.  Fabius  Maximus 
Rutilianus.  They,  to  secure  the  province  against  rebellions  and 
tumults,  sent  a  colony  into  it ;  and  finding  Siena  in  the  centre 
of  the  twelve  cities,  and  the  situation  strong,  they  sent  thither 
their  colony  and  garrison,  under  the  first  consulate  of  Curius 
Dentatus,  two  hundred  and  ninety  years  before  Christ. 

"  The  Tuscans  remained  quietly  under  the  government  of  the 

*  Veientes  contra,  tedio  annuse  ambitionis,  quae  interdum  discordiarum  causa 
erat,  regem  creavere ;  offendit  ea  res  populorum  Etruriae  animos,  non  majore 
odio  regni,  quam  ipsius  regis.  Livy. 

VOL.  V.  17  M 


194  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Romans,  until  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  Asdrabal,  when  they  were 
accused  of  having  held  a  secret  correspondence,  and  given  assist 
ance  to  the  Carthaginians.  After  that  great  victory  of  the  Romans, 
in  which  Asdrubal,  with  fifty-six  thousand  of  his  men,  was  slain, 
Marcus  Livius  was  sent  to  Tuscany,  to  inquire  which  of  the 
twelve  cities  had  assisted  the  Carthaginians,  who  reported,  that 
he  found  nothing  against  Siena.  Tranquillity,  thus  restored, 
continued  under  the  Roman  government  till  the  social  war,  when 
the  inhabitants  of  almost  all  Italy  waged  war  with  the  Romans 
for  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizens.  This  war  cost  the  lives  of 
a  very  great  number  of  men,  and  ended  with  the  ruin  of  Arezzo 
and  Chiusi,  two  of  the  principal  cities  of  Tuscany,  from  whence 
many  families  removed  to  Siena,  as  a  place  of  more  security, 
both  on  account  of  its  being  a  Roman  colony,  and  as  it  had  ever 
discovered  more  fidelity  to  the  Romans  than  any  other  Tuscan 
city." 

We  may  pass  over  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  in  a  dream 
of  a  standard,  (gonfalone,)  with  the  motto  ev  TOVT®  vlxn  •  his  divi 
sion  of  the  empire,  by  retiring  to  Byzantium,  into  two,  the  Grecian 
and  Roman,  or  eastern  and  western ;  the  decline  of  the  western 
empire ;  the  capture  of  Rome  by  Alaric,  King  of  the  Goths,  in 
412 ;  the  sacking  of  Rome  by  Odoacer,  King  of  the  Herulians  and 
Thuringians,  in  475,  the  first  of  the  barbarous  kings,  who  drove 
out  Augustulus,  annihilated  the  empire,  made  himself  King  of 
Italy,  and  so  established  his  power,  that  the  western  empire  re 
mained  vacant  for  three  hundred  years,  till  the  time  of  Charle 
magne,  though  Justin,  after  the  victories  of  Belisarius  and  Narses 
over  the  Goths,  sent  Longinus  into  Italy,  with  the  title  of  exarch, 
a  kind  of  first  magistracy,  which  continued  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years,  through  a  succession  of  thirteen. 

"  Longinus  having  found  that  the  several  cities  had  undertaken 
to  govern  themselves,  each  one  having  created  its  own  magis 
trates,  sent  a  governor,  not  to  rule  generally  in  the  province,  but 
to  each  city  of  any  considerable  consequence.  To  these  governors 
he  gave  a  new  name,  that  of  dukes.  The  first  that  he  sent  to 
Rome  was  called  a  president,  but  those  who  succeeded  him  were 
called  dukes  like  the  rest.  This  title  of  duke,  from  the  name  of 
a  military  office,  was  reduced  to  the  name  of  a  dignity,  which, 
at  this  day,  is  the  principal  one  in  Europe  after  the  royal  dignity. 
And  thus,  all  the  time  that  Narses  remained  in  Rome,  after  the 


SIENA.  195 

expulsion  of  the  Ostrogoths,  the  cities  of  Tuscany  governed  them 
selves  by  their  own  magistrates,  acknowledging  no  superior,  until 
the  arrival  of  Longinus,  in  566.  He,  with  his  new  governors  or 
dukes,  debilitated  the  forces,  and  destroyed  the  reputation  of  the 
empire,  and  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  their  own  militia,  to 
such  a  degree,  that  the  Lombards,  under  Albinus  their  king, 
found  it  easy  to  ruin  Tuscany,  which  they  conquered,  plundered, 
and  oppressed,  sometimes  under  the  general  power  of  their  kings, 
and  sometimes  under  an  officer,  sent  to  command  in  particular 
cities.  These  Lombards,  from  their  proud  hatred  of  the  Romans, 
endeavored  everywhere  to  change  the  laws,  customs,  manners, 
and  especially  the  language.  In  their  time  the  Latin  language 
in  Italy  was  corrupted  into  that  speech  now  called  the  Italian, 
which  is  no  other  than  the  Latin  corrupted  by  a  mixture  of 
the  barbarous  speech  of  those  very  Lombards,  and  some  other 
nations,  who  governed  in  Italy  after  them ;  as  the  French  and 
Spanish  are  similar  corruptions  of  the  Latin,  the  first  by  a  mix 
ture  with  the  language  of  the  Franks,  and  the  last,  with  that  of 
the  Visigoths  and  other  barbarians.  The  Lombards  held  the 
domination  of  the  major  part  of  Italy  more  than  two  hundred 
years,  when  they  were  totally  subdued. 

"  Desiderius,  who,  from  a  Duke  of  Tuscany,  had  made  himself 
King  of  Italy,  was  the  last  Lombard  king,  and  was  totally  de 
feated,  and  sent  prisoner  to  Lyons  in  France,  by  Charlemagne, 
in  773.  This  great  monarch  having  taken  Pavia,  which  was  the 
principal  city  and  royal  residence  of  the  kings  of  the  Lombards, 
proceeded  to  many  other  strong  places,  which  were  held  by  go 
vernors  of  castles  and  garrisons  in  the  service  of  the  king,  or  of 
particular  lords  of  these  places ;  those  which  surrendered,  and 
swore  obedience,  were  left  under  the  command  of  their  lords,  but 
those  which  resisted,  and  were  reduced  by  force,  were  given  by 
Charlemagne  to  some  of  his  barons  or  nobles,  in  reward  of  the 
services  and  merits  they  had  shown  in  the  course  of  the  war. 
More  of  the  cities  of  Tuscany  defended  themselves  than  of  any 
other  parts  of  Italy,  because  they  were  better  fortified,  and  there 
fore  more  French  noblemen  were  left  here.  These  married  with 
original  families  in  Siena,  and  from  those  matches  have  issued 
the  greatest  part  of  the  noble  families  which  have  been  and  still 
are  in  that  city.  They  continued  afterwards,  many  hundreds  of 
years,  to  be  lords  of  the  same  castles,  until,  by  continual  discords, 


196  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

many  families  not  only  lost  their  estates  and  commands,  but 
became  extinct,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  sequel. 

"  Charles,  for  the  greatness  of  his  soul  and  the  multitude  of 
his  victories,  received  the  surname  of  Magnus,  and  was  made 
Roman  emperor.  As  Longinus  had  brought  into  Italy  the  title 
of  dukes,  the  Lombards  those  of  marquises  and  castaldi  or  bail 
iffs,  the  French  now  imported  that  of  counts.  Charlemagne, 
having  arranged  all  things  to  his  mind  in  Italy,  set  out  on  his 
journey  to  return  ;  and  passing  through  Siena,  and  being  moved 
with  the  relation  which  he  heard  from  those  noblemen  whom  he 
had  left  there,  of  the  fidelity  and  other  good  qualities  of  that 
people,  and  being  touched  also  by  their  petitions,  he  made  them 
free,  and  determined  that  they  should  not  be  subjected  to  the 
king  or  any  other  power.  This  is  the  reason  that,  in  the  division 
of  Tuscany,  afterwards  made  between  Louis  the  Pious  and  Pas 
cal  the  pope,  in  which  it  was  declared  that  Arezzo,  Chiusi,  Vol- 
terra,  Florence,  Pistoia,  Lucca,  Pisa,  and  Luna,  should  be  reserved 
to  the  emperor,  and  Orvieto,  Bagnarea,  Viterbo,  Sovana,  Popu- 
lonia,  Roselle,  Perugia,  Sutri,  and  Nepi,  should  belong  to  the 
ecclesiastical  state,  Siena  is  not  found  among  the  former  or  the 
latter.  Being  free  and  independent,  it  was  left  in  the  enjoyment 
of  its  liberty ;  and  as  the  nobles  had  procured  from  Charlemagne 
so  great  a  favor,  the  people,  in  gratitude  to  them,  and  ignorant, 
no  doubt,  of  any  better  form,  left  the  government  to  them,  and 
suffered  an  optimacy J  to  be  established.  Siena  was  a  long  time 
governed  by  these  noblemen  ;  and,  as  long  as  the  signori  consisted 
of  these  successors  of  Charlemagne  in  Italy  and  the  empire,  all 
remained  quiet  in  this  city,  as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  Italy.  This 
tranquillity  continued  to  the  time  of  Arnulphus,  the  last  emperor 
of  the  house  of  France,  who  was  approved  by  the  pope.  At  this 
time,  ambition,  discontent,  and  ill  humor  began  to  arise  in  Italy, 
from  the  weakness  of  the  successors  of  Charlemagne.  Berenga- 
rius,  Duke  of  Friuli,  and  Guido,  Duke  of  Spoleto,  aspiring  to 
the  empire  and  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  took  arms  against  the 
emperor ;  Berengarius  succeeded,  declared  himself  emperor,  and, 
by  the  favor  of  the  Roman  people,  was  made  King  of  Italy;  in 
which  dignities  he  was  succeeded  by  Berengarius  II.  and  III.  A 
contest,  however,  arose  between  the  princes  of  Italy,  France,  and 

l  Un  regimento  d'  ottimati,  "  an  aristocracy." 


SIENA.  197 

Germany,  for  the  empire  and  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  which  conti 
nued  sixty  years ;  and  a  Saracen  invasion  having  been  defeated 
by  Albericus,  he  was  declared  Duke  of  Tuscany  by  the  pope,  and 
acknowledged  no  superior  in  the  emperor  or  others.  Contentions 
soon  arose  between  him  and  the  pope ;  and  the  Hungarians,  tak 
ing  advantage  of  them,  made  inroads  into  Italy,  plundered  Tus 
cany,  and  ruined  Vol  terra.  The  Romans,  judging  this  calamity 
to  proceed  from  the  discords  between  the  pope  and  Albericus, 
assassinated  both.  Such  was  the  malignity  of  these  times,  and 
Christian  princes  had  deviated  so  far  from  a  virtuous  conduct, 
and  had  become  a  prey  to  ambition,  avarice,  and  pleasure,  (pow 
erful  ministers  to  every  kind  of  wickedness,)  that  they  determined, 
through  these  means,  and  without  scruple,  to  occupy  those  dig 
nities  which  their  ancestors  had  acquired  by  religion,  charity,  and 
every  Christian  virtue ;  they  lived  in  continual  discords  and  bloody 
wars  among  themselves ;  and  the  people,  after  their  example, 
having  adopted  their  follies  and  vices,  and  embroiled  themselves 
in  the  same  dissensions,  found  themselves  ruined.  Having  nei 
ther  forces  nor  courage  to  defend  their  country,  the  Hungarians 
committed,  in  a  short  space  of  time,  greater  ravages  in  Tuscany 
than  the  other  barbarous  nations  had  been  able  to  do  in  three 
hundred  years. 

"  The  Saracens,  too,  or  Moors,  broke  in  and  destroyed  the  sea- 
coast  of  Siena,  and  took  Jerusalem  and  Spain,  until  at  last  they 
were  defeated  by  Charles  Martel  in  Italy,  in  930,  and  by  Ferdinand 
III.  in  Spain,  in  1216.  The  city  of  Roselle  was  ruined  by  them, 
and  its  inhabitants  fled  to  Siena,  which  made  it  necessary  to 
enlarge  the  bounds  of  the  city,  and  take  in  the  ancient  castle 
Montone,  built  at  the  time  of  the  King  Porsenna  of  Chiusi, 
who,  desirous  of  assisting  Tarquin  the  Proud  in  his  restoration 
to  Rome,  sent  to  his  aid  two  hundred  infantry  and  fifty  cavalry ; 
the  former,  taken  from  the  castle  Montone,  were  commanded  by 
Bacco  Piccolomo ;  and  the  latter,  taken  from  the  Old  Castle,  by 
Perinto  Cacciaconte.  From  these  two  captains  are  descended 
the  two  most  ancient  families  in  Siena,  those  of  the  Piccolomini, 
and  those  of  the  Cacciaconti. 

"  Otho,  the  first  emperor  of  the  German  nation,  but  the  second 

of  that  name,  expelled  the  last  of  the  Saracens,  and  left  an  officer 

in  Tuscany,  who  governed  it  in  his  name,  with  the  title  of  Vicar 

of  the  Empire.     The  successors  of  Otho  followed  the  same  prac- 

17* 


198  ON  GOVEKNMENT. 

tice ;  but  Siena,  by  the  indulgence  of  Otho,  maintained  its  inde 
pendence  under  the  government  of  its  nobles,  and  its  liberty  was 
afterwards  confirmed,  with  ample  privileges,  by  Otho  III.  of  the 
German  nation,  who  had  been  served  in  his  enterprise  by  a  com 
pany  of  gentlemen  from  Siena,  and  to  it  was  presented  a  new 
ensign  of  the  white  lion.  Both  the  first  and  the  third  Otho  left 
many  of  their  gentlemen  in  Siena,  from  whom  are  descended 
several  of  the  noble  and  powerful  families  in  that  city,  where 
they  continued  a  long  time,  behaving  virtuously  and  honorably 
in  the  service  of  their  country.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  city 
and  territory,  living  then  in  union  and  harmony,  were  compre 
hended  under  the  name  of  the  People,  which  has  since,  from  a 
general  denomination,  become  a  particular  and  peculiar  name  of 
a  faction  called  Popolo,  the  citizens  being  divided  into  parties. 
Although  the  body  of  the  city  increased  on  every  side,  both  in 
numbers  and  riches,  it  was  nevertheless  unable  to  enlarge  its 
boundaries  or  extend  its  jurisdiction ;  for,  having  on  one  hand 
the  lands  of  the  church,  and  on  the  other  the  territories  of  the 
emperor,  it  could  not  go  beyond  its  own  limits. 

"At  this  time  much  industry  and  many  artificers  were  intro 
duced,  by  means  of  an  extensive  commerce.  Besides  other  noble 
men,  the  Count  Bandinello  de'  Bandinelli,  having  agents  and 
correspondents  in  many  parts  of  the  Levant,  imported  large  mer 
chandises,  to  his  own  great  profit  as  well  as  the  public  utility, 
employing  and  maintaining  a  multitude  of  people  in  every  kind 
of  labor.  He  was  in  a  great  measure  the  instrument  of  directing 
this  people  to  merchandise.  The  same  Count  Bandinello,  more 
over,  being  consul,  and  desirous  of  displaying  the  consular  dignity 
and  authority,  gave  orders  that  two  commanders,  or  officers,  on 
all  occasions  of  solemnity  or  ceremony,  should  go  before  the  con 
suls,  with  rods  in  their  hands  and  fringes  at  their  breasts,  after 
the  similitude  of  the  lictors,  who  walked  with  their  bundles  of 
rods  and  with  their  axes  before  the  consuls  of  Rome.  He  also 
ordered,  that  to  the  trumpets  should  be  fixed  those  streamers  of 
white  and  black  taffety,  which  have  been  ever  since  used  by  all 
the  supreme  magistrates  who  have  succeeded  in  the  place  of  the 
consuls ;  and  that  the  fifers  and  trumpeters,  with  the  rest  of  the 
family  and  servants  of  the  magistrate,  down  to  modern  times, 
in  the  public  palace,  should  be  clothed  in  blue  and  green. 

"About  the  year  1059,  contentions  arose  between  the  Emperor 


SIENA.  199 

Henry  III.  and  the  pope,  who  decreed  him  an  enemy  to  the 
church,  and  interdicted  him  his  empire  and  kingdom ;  which 
quarrel  was  the  reason  that  the  cities  of  Tuscany  began  to  be 
agitated  with  seditions.  Some  of  them  declared  in  favor  of  the 
emperor,  and  others,  rebelling  against  him,  adopted  republican 
governments,  and  attached  themselves  to  the  pope,  by  whose 
assistance  they  hoped  to  defend  themselves  against  the  em 
peror,  who  would  have  oppressed  them.  From  this  division 
originated  the  desire  in  the  minds  of  the  people  to  increase  their 
forces,  that  they  might  the  more  easily  resist  the  emperor,  if  he 
should  invade  Tuscany  with  a  design  of  reducing  them  to  his 
obedience.  To  this  end  every  city  and  castle  endeavored  to 
make  itself  master  of  those  in  its  neighborhood,  or  at  least  to 
draw  them  to  its  alliance,  which  involved  them  in  frequent  wars, 
and  was  the  original  of  those  discords  and  enmities  with  which 
many  cities  of  Tuscany  were  long  agitated,  and  which  proved 
the  ruin  of  some,  though  it  augmented  the  greatness  of  others. 

"  The  Italians  having  long  remained  under  the  obedience  of 
the  German  emperors,  and  having  very  rarely  been  employed  in 
their  wars,  either  by  them  or  their  captains,  neglected,  in  so  long 
and  inactive  a  kind  of  servitude,  the  regulations  of  their  militia ; 
but  now,  in  danger  of  oppression  from  Conrad  I.,  the  cities,  in 
order  to  defend  themselves,  ordered  a  kind  of  chariot  to  be  built, 
and  called  it  il  carrocio.  It  was  covered  with  rose-colored  cloth, 
with  a  large  pole  in  the  centre,  on  which  was  displayed  a  white 
standard,  with  two  scarlet  stripes,  in  a  cross,  at  the  middle  of  it; 
and  on  every  side  of  the  carriage  stood  a  man,  who  held  in  his 
hand  a  cord  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  pole,  that  neither  the  force 
of  the  wind  nor  the  weight  of  the  standard  might  incline  it  one 
way  or  another.  The  chariot  was  drawn  by  oxen  covered  with 
white,  although  they  varied  the  colors  according  to  the  prevalence 
of  factions  in  the  city.  The  care  and  command  of  this  chariot 
was  given  to  one  of  the  most  experience  and  ability  in  war,  who 
became  the  captain ;  and  to  him,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
his  authority,  a  shield  and  a  sword  were  given  by  the  public.  But 
in  the  times  which  followed  after  the  Emperor  Frederick  I,  this 
was  the  office  of  the  podesta;*  and  he  was  accompanied  with 
eight  trumpets  and  one  priest.  In  this  manner  the  cities  of 

*  The  Italian  writers  in  Latin  call  this  office  and  officer,  both,  by  the  name  of 
potestas. 


200  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Lombardy,  as  well  as  Tuscany,  sent  out  their  people  to  war, 
without  entertaining  any  soldiers  in  pay;  for  those  who  were 
ordered  out  to  war  in  those  times,  in  Italy,  went  at  their  own 
expense,  so  great  was  their  affection  to  their  country,  as  in  the 
beginning  the  Romans  did.  Wherever  the  triumphal  chariot 
was  found,  there  were  the  head-quarters  of  the  captain,  like  the 
praetor's  among  the  ancients.  With  this  manner  of  making  war, 
confiding  in  the  power  of  the  faction  it  followed,  and  living 
by  plunder,  each  city  was  ambitious  to  increase  its  dominion, 
and  declined  no  opportunity  which  occurred  of  opposing  itself 
obstinately  to  the  most  powerful  princes  and  veteran  armies,  for 
the  defence  of  its  own  dignity,  and  that  of  the  party  to  which  it 
was  devoted. 

"  Deriving  from  these  motives,  and  from  successful  enterprises, 
great  courage  and  ardor,  when  Henry  III.,  with  his   antipope, 
besieged  Gregory  VII.  in  his  castle,  and,  for  fear  of  Robert  Guis- 
card,  on  his  march  to  succor  the  pope,  retired  to  Siena,  Florence 
took  the  part  of  the  pope,  and  Siena  that  of  the  emperor ;  and 
from  this  principle  arose  that  irreconcilable  hatred  and  enmity 
between  these  cities,  which  lasted  so  long,  and  produced  so  much 
war  and  bloodshed.    Upon  this  occasion  a  memorable  battle  was 
fought,  and  a  signal  victory  obtained  by  the  army  of  Siena  over 
that  of  Florence.     Certain  persons  in  this  engagement  had  been 
the  first  to  begin  the  action,  and  behaved  themselves  so  bravely 
in  it,  that  it  was  adjudged  that  their  conduct  had  been  the  prin 
cipal  cause  of  putting  the  Florentines  to  flight.     The  republic, 
in  reward  of  their  merit,  and  to  incite  and  inflame  by  this  example 
the  minds  of  others  to  act  nobly  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
erected,  by  a  public  decree,  a  very  high  tower  by  the  sides  of 
their  houses.     The  Greeks  and  Romans,  by  decreeing  statues  to 
them,  used  to  honor  those  who  performed  similar  achievements 
in  the  service  of  the  republic,  by  this  means  rendering  their  me 
mories  immortal ;  and  they  were  more  or  less  honored,  according 
to  the  position  in  which  the  statue  was  placed,  and  the  height  and 
grandeur  of  the  statue  itself;  wherefore  they  made  some  larger 
and  others  smaller ;  some  on  horseback,  others  on  the  ground  ; 
and  to  make  the  glory  of  others  still  more  illustrious,  they  sought 
the  most  eminent  artists,  and  placed  the  statues  on  columns,* 

*  Columnarum  ratio  erat  attolli  supra  creteros  mortales.     Pliny. 


SIENA.  201 

knowing  that  columns,  anciently  dedicated  to  men,  were  marks 
of  honor,  and  conspicuous  tokens  of  immortal  glory.  Moved 
by  these  old  examples,  they  who  governed  the  city  of  Siena 
having,  by  the  long  domination  of  the  barbarians  in  Italy,  lost 
the  arts  of  sculpture  and  painting,  which  were  held  in  so  high 
estimation  by  the  ancients,  as  well  as  by  the  modern  civilized 
nations,  and  not  being  able,  for  want  of  artists,  to  make  statues 
or  columns  to  honor  these  brave  and  virtuous  citizens,  ordered 
those  towers  to  be  built.  After  which  precedent,  for  similar 
merits  and  services,  many  others  were  afterwards  erected  ;  among 
which  that  of  the  Malavolti  was  built  by  the  public,  in  memory 
of  the  virtue  of  Philip  Malavolti,  captain  of  Siena  in  the  Chris 
tian  army  of  Clement  III.  This,  like  many  others  which  had 
been  raised  before,  was  habitable  ;  and  although  they  were  erected 
only  as  memorials  of  the  honor  due  to  greatness  of  soul,  they 
were  afterwards  employed  very  often  as  fortifications  for  offence 
and  defence,  by  the  several  parties,  in  their  civil  wars ;  permis 
sion  was  granted  by  the  public,  to  many  gentlemen,  to  build 
towers  at  their  own  expense,  as  testimonials  of  the  nobility  and 
splendor  of  their  families  ;  and  until,  long  afterwards,  they  were 
taken  down  by  order  of  Charles  V.,  and  the  materials  em 
ployed  in  a  castle  which  that  tyrant  built  for  himself,  they  were 
so  large  and  so  high,  as  to  be  seen  from  a  great  distance,  and 
made  a  most  beautiful  appearance. 

In  the  union  of  the  Christian  princes,  in  1099,  against  the 
Saracens,  and  in  the  army  engaged  in  the  enterprise  against 
Jerusalem,  the  city  of  Siena  had  a  thousand  men,  under  the 
command  of  Dominick  and  Boniface  Gricci,  noblemen  of  Si 
ena.  Henry  IV.,  after  the  death  of  Henry  III.,  coming  to 
Rome  for  the  crown,  in  1110,  renewing  the  discords  with  the 
pope  Pascal  II.,  and  Gelasius  his  successor,  and  marching  to 
Rome  with  his  armies,  excited  afresh  the  ill  humors  in  Tus 
cany.  But  these  not  having  much  energy,  did  not  at  that 
time  produce  effects  of  moment ;  yet,  stirred  up  from  time 
to  time  by  the  discord  among  the  great  princes,  and  other 
accidents,  though  they  seemed  at  times  to  be  quieted,  they 
broke  out  again,  and  were  never  wholly  extinguished ;  they 
rather  went  on  increasing,  and  at  last,  discovering  themselves 
with  greater  malignity,  they  grew,  from  particular  disputes  be 
tween  one  city  and  another,  to  the  most  general  and  sanguinary 


202  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

factions  of  all,  or  the  greatest  part,  of  the  territory  of  Tuscany, 
and  all  the  rest  of  Italy,  making  alliance  among  one  another,  of 
those  who  were  of  the  same  faction,  against  other  leagues 
among  the  factions  who  were  their  enemies.  One  party  having 
taken  the  name  of  Guelphs,  and  the  other  of  Ghibellines,  these 
parties  and  divisions  were  not  only  between  one  people  and 
another,  btit,  to  complete  the  ruin  and  destruction,  they  spread 
into  the  same  city,  and  sometimes  into  the  same  family,  till 
there  was  not  a  spot  of  earth  to  be  found  whose  inhabitants 
were  not  divided,  and  on  which  the  citizens  did  not  frequently 
meet  in  arms  against  each  other ;  as  it  happened  in  1137,  and  in 
1147,  between  the  noble  houses  in  Siena,  in  which  private 
interests  and  party  passions  had  infinitely  more  energy  than  the 
interest  of  the  public.  Although  the  nobles  had  so  long  governed 
and  preserved  this  republic  in  peace,  they  now.  most  imprudently 
suffered  themselves  to  be  blindly  led  on  by  ambition.  This  civil 
discord  having  entered,  and  been  increased  and  artificially  fo 
mented  by  the  heads  of  those  plebeians  who  had  attached  them 
selves,  some  to  one  nobleman  and  some  to  another,  in  the  city, 
they  began  to  endeavor  in  turn  to  expel  one  another  by  violence 
from  the  city.* 

By  this  means,  coming  frequently  to  blows,  and  meeting  often 
in  arms,  they  gave  occasion  to  the  plebeians,  who  wished  nothing 
better,  to  study  the  means  of  taking  the  government,  by  little 
and  little,  out  of  their  hands,  in  the  firm  hope  of  being  able  to 
obtain  it,  if  not  entirely,  at  least  in  part,  to  themselves ;  for  the 
gentlemen  being  in  arms,  and  each  party  afraid  of  being  over 
come  by  the  other,  strove  to  acquire  friends  and  adherents  among 
the  plebeians,  whom  they  now  called  by  a  more  decent  appel 
lation  of  the  People.  That  they  might  be  able  with  stronger 
forces,  to  conquer  their  enemies,  or  at  least  secure  themselves 
from  being  conquered  by  them,  neither  party  was  willing,  by 
refusing  the  people  a  share  in  the  government,  to  make  them 
their  enemies.  They  agreed  therefore  to  give  them  a  third  part: 
wherefore,  when  they  first  appointed  two  consuls  of  noble  houses, 
who  should  annually  govern  the  republic,  it  was  ordained,  that 
for  the  future  they  should  appoint  three,  two  of  them  to  be 
noblemen  taken  from  each  faction,  and  the  third  from  the 

*  Plebs  est  caeteri  cives  sine  senatore.     De  Verb.  Signif. 


SIENA.  203 

people ;  and  sometimes  they  made  the  number  six,  observing 
the  same  distribution  ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  many  persons 
have  believed  that  certain  families,  which  at  this  day  are  of  the 
order  of  the  nine,*  finding  that  their  ancestors  were  made  consuls 
in  those  times,  were  originally  noble,  not  knowing  that  the  people, 
from  whom  the  order  of  nine  had  their  original,  participated  at 
that  time,  by  a  third  part,  in  the  government,  and  that  from 
some  of  those  popular  families,  who  at  that  time  held  the  con 
sulate,  are  descended  those  of  the  nine.  The  nobles,  who  at 
this  day  are  denominated  in  Siena  gentlemen,  and  who  anciently, 
being  very  powerful,  were  sometimes  called  grandees,  are  sprung 
from  a  part  of  those  ancient  families,  who  in  the  first  institution 
and  ordination  of  the  republic  took  upon  them  the  government, 
which,  with  large  additions  to  the  city  and  its  dominions,  they 
held  till  the  year  1137,  when  the  plebeians,  or  more  properly  the 
people,  first  began  to  enter  into  a  share  of  the  government  of  the 
state  and  police  of  the  city ;  by  this  means,  although  those  who 
had  been  in  public  offices  and  dignities  had  acquired  nobility  to 
their  descendants,  they  had  not  yet  assumed  the  name  of  nobles 
or  of  gentlemen. 

Although  in  Siena,  as  in  all  the  other  cities  of  Tuscany, 
the  popular  faction  long  prevailed  over  the  nobles,  they  fol 
lowed,  as  the  most  favorable  and  least  invidious,  the  name  of 
the  people  ;  and  thus,  leaving  uncorrupted  the  ancient  nobility, 
perhaps  to  avoid  the  distinction  of  greater  and  lesser,  like  that 
of  nobles  and  patricians  among  the  Romans,  they  busied  them 
selves  in  those  factions,  through  which,  at  different  times,  they 
began  to  ennoble  themselves;  the  people  in  process  of  time 
divided  into  three  parties,  one  of  which  was  called  the  people 
of  the  smaller  number,  who  were  those  of  the  order  of  the 
nine ;  the  second,  the  people  of  the  middle  number,  who  were 
called  the  order  of  the  twelve;  and  the  third,  the  people  of 
the  greater  number,  called  the  order  of  reformers,  including  all 
the  lesser  people,!  combined  with  some  of  the  ancient  houses, 
under  this  denomination,  were  the  most  numerous,  as  will  be 
largely  shown  in  its  proper  place.  Subsequently  to  these  three 
popular  factions,  out  of  those  who  were  afterwards  accepted  into 
the  government  and  acquired  civil  rights,  together  with  those 

*  Deli'  ordine  de'  nove.  t  ^  popolo  minuto. 


204  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

few  houses  who  would  not  follow  the  above-named  factions,  an 
other  order  was  created,  which  was  called  the  order  of  the  people; 
and  these,  however  they  may  since  have  been  ennobled,  have 
taken  no  other  name  than  that  of  the  popular  faction.  So  of  old 
in  Rome  it  happened,  that  the  patricians  and  ancient  nobles  had 
always  the  name  of  nobles,  and  the  plebeians,  (so  called  by  the 
Romans,)  although  they  had  been  consuls  and  dictators,  and  had 
enjoyed  triumphs,  were  ever  called  plebeians,  until  some  fami 
lies  were  added  to  the  number  of  patricians  by  the  emperors, 
Julius  Caesar,  Augustus,  and  Claudius.  The  greater  part  of  the 
families  of  nobles,  who  were  denominated  by  Romulus  the 
greater  race,  and  of  those  who  were  added  by  Tarquinius  Pris- 
cus,  and  were  afterwards  called  by  Lucius  Brutus  the  lesser 
race,  being  already  extinguished,  this  distinction  was  preserved 
in  the  Roman  senate,  where  the  fathers  were  understood  to  be 
those  who  were  of  patrician  houses,  and  fathers  conscript  those 
who  had  been  added  and  recorded  in  the  number  of  senators ; 
and  thus  plebeians  sometimes,  by  concessions  of  princes,  ac 
quired  the  name  of  nobles.  These  orders  were  in  all  respects 
contrary  to  those  which  were  used  at  this  time  in  the  cities  of 
Tuscany,  which,  being  governed  by  the  multitude,  did  not  admit 
the  nobles  to  honors,  nor  to  the  administration  of  the  republic, 
if  they  did  not,  first  renouncing  their  nobility,  acquire  the  privi 
lege  of  being  of  the  people;  such  was  in  that  age  the  odium 
against  the  name  of  nobles  among  those  who  governed  the 
republics  of  Tuscany,  from  the  jealousy  and  terror  that  were 
entertained  of  their  greatness ;  and  this  we  may  well  suppose 
was  the  main  reason  why  those  first  popular  characters,  and 
the  others  who  followed  after  them,  did  not  care  to  acquire  the 
name  of  noblemen  or  gentlemen  ;  on  the  contrary  they  exerted 
themselves  with  all  diligence,  by  the  laws  and  by  all  their 
actions,  by  extermination  and  destruction  of  one  family  after 
another,  totally  to  destroy  the  memory  of  all  the  noble  houses 
of  the  gentlemen,  in  such  manner  that  the  greatest  part  of  them 
are  extinguished.  Among  the  few  that  remain  are  the  Bis- 
domini,  the  Tegolei,  the  Floridi,  who  were  original  inhabitants 
of  the  city,  and  lived  in  that  third  of  it  which  was  called 
the  Old  Castle,  with  many  other  noble  families  enumerated. 
In  another  third  of  the  city,  named  the  Third  of  Saint  Martin, 
the  noble  families  of  Jazzani,  Trombetti,  Guastelloni,  Sanse- 


SIENA.  205 

donii,  and  others  dwelt;  in  the  remaining  third,  called  the 
third  of  Camullia,  lived  the  Gallerani,  Scricciuoli,  Arzochii, 
Mignanelli,  &c.  There  was  another  distinction  of  five  fami 
lies,  who  were  counts,  and  lived  indifferently  in  any  part  of 
the  town,  which  were  called  the  greater  houses,  as  the  Counts 
Ardenghesci,  Guiglieschi,  Scialenghi,  Cacciaconti,  and  Valcor- 
tese.  There  were  other  families  who,  because  very  numerous, 
had  the  privilege  of  having  two  members  from  each  family  in 
the  magistracy,  while  the  rest  could  have  but  one,  as  the  Picco- 
lomini,  Tolommei,  Malavolti,  Salimbeni,  and  Saraceni ;  and  in 
the  same  proportion  they  might  have  seats  in  the  council  of  a 
hundred  gentlemen,  to  whom,  in  this  reform  of  the  state,  fifty 
popular  members  were  added.  This  council  was  renewed  once 
in  two  years,  and  sometimes  every  year;  and  was  elected  by 
the  general  council,  one  member  from  each  family,  with  ample 
authority.  In  this  council,  which  was  to  assemble  at  least  once 
a  month,  they  consulted  upon  all  affairs  of  the  most  serious 
nature  and  the  greatest  importance. 

"  Under  this  form  of  government  Siena  continued  for  some 
time,  and,  following  the  imperial  party,  they  had  a  mind  to  pos 
sess  themselves  of  the  castle  of  Radicofani,  then  held  by  the 
church,  pretending  that  it  had  been  given  to  the  bishop  and  peo 
ple  of  Siena  by  the  Count  Manente  de'  Visconti  di  Campiglia, 
before  1138  ;  but  this  expedition  failed.  In  this  year  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Siena  and  the  Aretini  united  with  the  Conti  Guidi, 
whose  castle  of  Monte  alia  Croce  they  relieved  from  a  siege  of 
the  Florentines.  The  Conti  Guidi  were  lords  of  many  castles 
in  Casentino  and  one  part  of  Valdarno,  and  had  been  decorated 
with  the  title  of  counts  by  Otho  the  emperor,  after  he  had  libe 
rated  Italy  from  the  lordship  of  Berengarius  III.,  when  one  of 
the  family  who  came  with  him  from  Germany,  married  a  lady 
of  Florence,  from  which  marriage  descended  the  house  of 
Guidi." 

We  may  pass  over  the  bloody  wars  and  variety  of  victories 
and  defeats  between  these  two  cities  of  Siena  and  Florence ; 
but  when  Frederick  Barbarossa  came  into  Italy,  they  made  a 
truce,  and  new  laws  and  confederations  were  made  between  the 
people  of  Tuscany. 

"  The  Florentines,  Lucchese,  Pratensians,  and  lords  of  Car- 
fagna,  entered  into  one  league ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Siena, 

VOL.  v.  18 


206  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Pisa,  Pistoia,  Aretina,  and  the  Conti  Guidi  into  another ;  and 
because  the  Sienese  had  shown  themselves,  in  the  dissensions 
which  had  happened  in  times  past  between  the  popes  and  the 
emperors,  favorable  to  the  empire,  the  Pope  Adrian,  attentive  to 
the  arrival  of  Frederick,  with  much  solicitude  completed  the  for 
tress,  and  part  of  the  walls  of  the  territory,  of  Radicofani.  In 
1154,  Frederick  was  crowned  at  Rome,  after  long  disputes  with 
the  Romans,  and  returned  to  Germany  in  1155.  The  Sienese, 
by  sympathy,  being  of  the  same  faction,  acquired  a  jurisdic 
tion  over  Poggibonzi,  an  eighth  part  of  which  castle  had  been 
given  them  by  the  Count  Guido  Guerra.  This  castle  was 
afterwards,  in  1268,  taken  by  Charles,  King  of  Naples,  and 
given  to  the  Florentines,  and  by  them  demolished,  as  always 
friendly  or  subject  to  the  Sienese,  and  a  receptacle  of  Ghibellines. 
In  1158,  Frederick  came  a  second  time  into  Italy.  The  Sienese. 
being  at  variance  with  the  Counts  of  Orgia,  and  other  lords, 
their  neighbors,  who  held  many  strong  castles  very  near  to 
Siena,  some  of  which  were  demolished  by  the  Sienese,  the  lords 
of  these  castles  were  desirous  of  rebuilding  them ;  but  Frederick 
granted  to  the  Sienese  the  privilege,  that  neither  those  counts, 
nor  any  other  lords,  nor  their  successors,  should  rebuild  any 
castle  or  fortress,  within  twelve  miles  of  their  city." 

As  it  is  a  sketch  of  the  laws,  their  vicissitudes  and  varia 
tions,  that  we  are  attempting,  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  wars 
or  disputes  between  popes  and  antipopes,  the  church  and  the 
empire,  nor  with  the  accessions  of  Staggia  or  Orgia  to  Siena. 
In  1167,  Frederick  returned  to  Italy,  and  confirmed  all  the  privi 
leges  and  donations  which  had  been  before  made  to  Siena.  The 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  journey  to  Italy,  and  all  the  wars,  and 
truces,  and  peaces,  between  Florence  and  Siena,  may  likewise 
be  omitted ;  though  in  the  last,  which  was  in  1184,  he  found 
enemies  in  the  Sienese,  his  old  friends.  According  to  some 
writers,  this  strange  revolution  was  in  1186,  and  the  causes  of 
it  deserve  to  be  examined  and  explained.* 

Charlemagne,  as  has  been  before  related,  left  the  government  of 
Siena  in  a  single  assembly  of  hereditary  nobles,  who,  no  doubt, 
as  they  had  procured  the  independence  of  the  city  by  their  inte- 

*  Malavolti,  lib.  iv.  p.  36.  Giovanni  Villani,  Croniche  Florentine,  lib.  v. 
Muratori,  Rer.  Italic.  Scrip,  torn.  xv.  Chronica  Sanese,  di  Andrea  Dei.  Mura- 
tori,  Dissertazioni,  50.  Muratori,  Annal  torn.  vii.  anno  1186,  p.  56. 


SIENA.  207 

rest  and  intercession,  thought  it  their  own,  and  entailed  on  their 
posterity  forever.  While  the  people  considered  these  rulers  as 
their  benefactors,  to  whom  they  owed  so  much  ;  while  the  nobles 
were  united,  and  the  city  continued  with  constancy  faithful  to 
the  emperors,  all  went  smoothly  on ;  at  least,  no  history  appears 
to  the  contrary ;  but  in  a  course  of  time,  when  the  nobles  became 
divided  into  parties,  each  of  which  courted  the  people,  not  so 
much  from  humanity,  patriotism,  or  love  of  liberty  and  equality, 
as  because  their  bones  and  sinews  were  wanted  in  the  civil  wars, 
the  people,  with  very  good  reason,  began  to  demand  a  share  and 
to  take  a  hand  in  the  game.  But  how?  Not  in  any  proportion 
which  could  give  them  a  control,  or  a  power  of  self-defence,  or 
even  much  influence ;  but  by  claiming  one  in  three  consuls,  and 
fifty  in  one  hundred  and  fifty  senators.  Absolute  power  was 
still  in  the  noble  hundred,  and  the  people,  by  their  members,  only 
became  nearer  witnesses  of  their  own  insignificance,  and  of  the 
arbitrary  disposition  of  their  noble  masters.  This,  therefore,  of 
course,  irritated  the  people,  and  gave  them  able  leaders,  while  it 
increased  the  motives  of  the  factions  in  each  party  of  the  nobles 
to  caress  them  still  more.  * 

"  In  consequence  of  this,  the  public  councils  and  conduct,  in 
1186,  began  to  be  unsteady,  and  a  strong  faction  appeared  for 
the  pope  against  the  emperor.  Philippo  Malavolti,  Palmerio 
Malagalla,  and  Guido  Maizi,  were  this  year  consuls.  The 
Guelphs  had  acquired  so  much  influence  as  to  shut  the  gates 
against  the  emperor  desirous  of  passing  through  the  town,  and 
even  to  attack  and  defeat  his  army;  but  as  soon  as  he  was 
prepared  to  punish  them  for  this  offence,  certain  orators  were 
sent  to  him  by  those  in  the  government,  to  excuse  the  fault,  and  to 
beg  his  pardon.  They  said,  the  resistance  to  his  majesty  had  been 
occasioned  by  the  fury  of  the  people,  who  arose  in  a  tumult,  very 
much  against  the  will  of  their  governors,  who  had  always  been 
faithfully  devoted  to  him.  The  emperor  received  them  graciously, 
and  confirmed  their  privileges  under  some  severe  conditions; 
moved  however  to  this  grace,  according  to  the  custom  of  great 
princes,  more  by  his  own  interest  than  by  any  confidence  he  had  in 
their  professions ;  but  as  he  was  now  intent  upon  an  enterprise  into 
the  Levant  against  the  Turks  and  Saracens,  he  wished  to  leave  all 
things  in  tranquillity  in  Italy.  Intending,  on  his  return,  to  make 
himself  master  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily  and  Naples,  he  was  desk- 


208  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

ous  of  preserving  peace  in  the  cities  of  Italy  already  friendly  to 
him ;  and  by  reconciling  the  others,  to  acquire  more  friends  and 
followers,  who  might  assist  him,  and  remove  all  obstacles  to  his 
enterprise.  With  this  view  he  sent  Henry  his  son,  already 
elected  King  of  the  Romans,  into  Italy,  with  great  pomp  and 
authority,  who  pretended  to  be  favorable  to  the  Sienese,  and 
granted  them  the  power,  under  the  imperial  authority,  to  elect 
consuls,  as  they  had  been  long  used  to  do ;  but  those  who  should 
be  elected,  were  obliged  to  accept  the  investiture  of  their  consu 
late,  without  expense,  from  the  king  himself,  or  the  emperor,  or 
their  successors,  if  in  Italy ;  if  not,  from  their  legate  or  vicar  in 
Tuscany ;  and  if  there  should  be  no  imperial  legate  in  Tuscany, 
the  consuls  elect  were  obliged  to  go  in  a  body,  or  a  part  of  them, 
or  send  an  ambassador,  to  demand  the  investiture  of  the  empe 
ror,  or  whoever  should  be  King  of  the  Romans. 

"  In  1187,  Jerusalem  was  besieged  by  Saladin ;  and  Siena  sent 
five  hundred  of  her  young  men,  under  the  command  of  Philip 
Malavolti,  in  the  Christian  army  raised  for  its  relief.  Henry,  on 
his  return  from  this  expedition,  was  declared  by  the  pope  empe 
ror,  and  invested  with  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  upon 
condition  that  he  would  recover  it  from  Tancred,  the  son  of 
Roger  IV.,  of  the  house  of  Normandy,  heir  of  William,  King 
of  England,  who  died  in  this  crusade.  While  the  pope  and  the 
emperor  were  occupied  in  this  enterprise,  and  all  Italy  was  filled 
with  arms  and  rumors,  and  so  many  gentlemen  of  Siena  were 
absent  in  the  wars,  the  people  of  Siena  thought  they  had  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  endeavor  with  safety  to  take  the  go 
vernment  of  the  republic  out  of  the  hands  of  the  consuls,  and,  by 
a  reformation  of  the  state,  introduce  a  new  form  of  popular 
government.  The  plebeians,  tumultuously  rising,  with  great 
impetuosity  flew  to  arms;  but  the  gentlemen,  who  had  fore 
seen  the  insurrection,  assembled  in  the  public  walks,  provided 
with  attendants  and  arms,  that  they  might  be  able  to  oppose 
the  people,  and  defend  the  dignity  of  the  government.  The 
heads  of  the  popular  faction,  perceiving  that  their  design  could 
not  succeed  by  force,  put  a  stop  to  the  tumult,  but  stood 
armed  in  several  parts  of  the  city.  The  most  respectable 
citizens  of  each  party,  meeting  half  way  between  the  two 
bodies,  effected  a  reconciliation  so  far,  that  both  sides  agreed  to 
lay  down  their  arms ;  and  it  was  agreed,  that  if  any  one  would 


SIENA.  209 

demand  or  request  that  any  thing  should  be  corrected  or  reformed 
for  the  public  service,  he  should  propose  it  civilly,  without  the 
din  of  arms ;  and  if  it  should  be  judged  an  error  or  a  grievance 
by  the  council,  there  should  be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  its 
amendment  or  redress  ;  and  with  copious  reasoning,  they  demon 
strated  the  disorders  which  must  arise  from  exciting  the  mob, 
with  arms  in  their  hands,  to  demand  new  laws,  because,  always 
naturally  desirous  of  seeing  new  things,  they  are  never  contented 
with  what  they  possess ;  and  having  obtained  one  object  of  pur 
suit,  they  suddenly  look  for  another,  setting  neither  bounds  nor 
laws  to  their  appetites;  upon  every  little  accident,  which  is 
always  in  the  power  of  any  one  to  excite,  they  fly,  according  to 
their  present  passions,  prejudices,  necessities,  or  inclinations,  to 
robberies  and  conflagrations,  many  examples  of  which  have  been 
seen  in  Siena,  as  well  as  other  cities ;  and  no  method  of  sup 
pressing  an  unbridled  populace  has  been  hitherto  invented,  with 
out  manifest  and  universal  danger. 

"  They  moreover  took  into  consideration,  that,  from  the  vicinity 
of  Florence,  in  times  so  agitated,  both  parties  ought  to  be  sensi 
ble  into  what  ruin  they  might  fall,  while  they  were  engaged  at 
home  in  contending  with  each  other ;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
this  danger,  the  nobles  were,  at  that  time,  so  superior  in  power 
to  the  plebeians,  that  they  would  not  have  submitted  to  this 
insolence,  nor  let  escape  this  opportunity  of  putting  an  end  to 
such  seditions,  by  chastising  the  authors  of  this.  They  only 
advised  the  consuls  to  call  together  the  council  the  next  day. 
When  together,  they  deliberated  and  debated  upon  a  variety  of 
subjects ;  but,  after  many  contests,  they  concluded  upon  nothing 
but  this :  in  order  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of  two  or  three  per 
sons  who  aspired  to  be  consuls,  it  was  determined,  that, 
instead  of  three  consuls,  there  should  in  future  be  six,  observ 
ing  the  same  distribution  of  two  thirds  noblemen,  one  third  of 
whom  were  to  be  of  the  Ghibelline  faction,  and  one  third  popu 
lar  members.  By  this  measure  they  quieted  the  minds  of  the 
ambitious  and  envious  for  this  year.  But  the  year  following,  at 
the  new  election  of  consuls,  fresh  innovations  would  have  been 
attempted,  if,  at  that  time,  those  Sienese  gentlemen,  who  had 
been  to  Asia  at  their  own  expense,  had  not  returned  in  triumph, 
to  the  universal  joy  of  the  whole  city.  This  event  quieted  the 
minds  of  those  who  were  inclined  to  civil  discord.  As  the  crea- 
18*  N 


210  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

tion  of  six  consuls  had  produced  no  other  effect  than  to  increase 
the  difficulty  of  assembling  them  together,  and  of  concluding 
deliberations  by  deciding  questions,  it  was  now  resolved  to  have 
only  three ;  and  in  this  way  they  went  on,  varying  the  number 
according  to  the  times  and  the  business." 

In  1194  and  1195,  the  commerce  of  the  city  was  much  in 
creased  by  emigrants  from  Milan ;  the  manufactures  in  wool 
were  introduced ;  the  great  fountain  and  aqueduct  was  built, 
as  well  as  the  palace. 

"  In  1197,  the  Conti  Scialenghi  were  made  to  submit  and  swear 
allegiance  to  Siena,  for  all  the  lands  and  castles,  as  il  monte 
Sante  Marie,  Montebello,  Monte  Marti  no,  Monte  Bernardo, 
Monte  Franco,  &c.,  and  the  Cacciaconti,  Cacciaguerra,  Tancredi, 
Guido,  Ranieri,  Bernardino,  Aldobrandino,  Renaldo,  Counts  of 
Scialenghi,  were  admitted  citizens  of  Siena.  The  inhabitants 
of  Asciano  also  submitted.  The  Count  Napoleone  de'  Vis- 
conti  di  Campiglia,  the  Counts  Guiglieschi,  and  the  Counts 
Ardengheschi,  also  capitulated.  The  inhabitants  of  Montalcino, 
who  had  frequently  excited  quarrels  between  Siena  and  these 
counts,  now  discovered  much  animosity,  and  preparations  were 
made  for  war,  to  bring  them  to  submission ;  and,  that  civil  dis 
sensions  might  not  interrupt  the  enterprise,  and  to  quiet  the 
minds  of  many,  who  desired  that  military  matters  should  be 
separated  from  the  civil  and  political,  and  that  the  consuls 
should  have  nothing  to  do  but  attend  to  affairs  of  state  and 
government  of  the  city,  they  made  an  election  of  a  foreign 
nobleman,  who,  with  imperial  authority,  should  have  the  care  of 
all  civil  and  criminal  causes,  having  judges,  assessors,  and  other 
officers  in  his  family  convenient  for  such  an  office. 

"  This  magistrate  they  called  podesta,  from  the  power  and 
authority  granted  to  the  cities  of  Italy  to  create  such  an  officer 
by  the  Emperor  Frederick  I.,  at  the  peace  of  Constance,  in  1183, 
and  to  the  Sienese  in  particular,  by  Henry  VI.  in  1186,  when 
he  came  into  Italy  as  vicar  to  his  father  Frederick.  And  besides 
the  judicial  authority,  in  civil  and  criminal  causes,  the  podesta 
had  the  government  and  command  of  the  army  in  case  of  war. 
The  first  who  was  elected  podesta  of  Siena  was  M.  Orlando 
Malapresa  of  Lucca,  for  one  year,  and  he  entered  on  his  office 
the  first  of  January,  1199,  according  to  the  order  of  the  city. 
The  Sienese  were  desirous  of  an  accommodation  with  the  Flo- 


SIENA.  211 

rentines,  that  they  might  not  be  molested  by  them  in  the  enter 
prise  they  meditated  against  Montalcino." 

The  discords  among  the  princes  of  Germany  upon  the  election 
of  an  emperor,  and  the  revolution  of  empire  in  Constantinople, 
are  not  much  to  our  present  purpose. 

"  In  1201,  a  perpetual  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  was 
concluded  between  Florence  and  Siena,  Philip  Malavolti  being 
podesta,  by  which  the  inhabitants  of  Montalcino  were  declared 
enemies  of  both.  In  1202,  the  army  of  Siena  made  themselves 
masters  of  their  fortress  and  territory.  The  Counts  Ardenghesci 
refused  to  furnish  their  quota  to  this  expedition,  which  excited 
the  resentment  of  the  city  against  them,  and  at  length  a  war. 
The  cities  of  Tuscany,  that  lived  and  were  governed  as  repub 
lics,  remained  long  without  any  palace,  or  other  public  place  in 
which  they  could  assemble  their  magistrates  and  councils ;  they 
were  therefore  summoned  to  meet  sometimes  in  one  church,  and 
sometimes  in  another,  varying  with  the  changes  of  the  chief 
consul,  until  the  establishment  of  the  office  of  the  nine,  at  which 
time  a  palace  was  built.  For  the  first  magistrate  usually  col 
lected  the  rest  in  his  own  parish  church,  as  the  Romans  long 
congregated  their  senate,  sometimes  in  one  temple,  sometimes 
in  another,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  business  on  which 
they  were  to  deliberate. 

"  Another  quarrel  soon  arose  between  Florence  and  Siena,  at 
the  conclusion  of  which  the  latter  were  obliged  to  relinquish 
Poggibonzi,  whose  inhabitants  praised  the  Florentines  very 
highly,  while  they  reproached  the  Sienese  with  bitterness.  The 
arbitrators,  or  agents,  who  settled  this  dispute,  were  very  ill 
received  on  their  return ;  and  the  praises  of  Florence,  which 
they  heard  repeated,  displeased  them  as  much  as  the  reproaches 
of  themselves.  These  excited  great  heats,  resentments,  and 
personal  altercations,  not  only  among  the  common  people,  but 
among  all  the  noble  houses  which  had  given  their  opinions 
against  making  the  cession  of  Poggibonzi.  The  disputes  upon 
this  occasion  went  so  far,  that  many  personal  enmities  grew  out 
of  them,  and  parties  frequently  came  to  blows  and  bloody  com 
bats  in  arms,  by  which  many  factions  were  generated,  who, 
frequently  fighting  with  each  other,  produced  a  number  of  atro 
cious  actions  and  scandalous  crimes.  The  wisest  men,  those 


212  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

who  consider  more  the  end  than  the  beginning  of  things,  a 
character  peculiar  to  prudent  men,  were  hardly  able  to  invent  a 
remedy,  or  by  the  interposition  of  the  public  authority  to  pre 
serve  the  peace.  The  city  remained  a  long  time  wonderfully 
agitated,  the  citizens  having  no  confidence  in  one  another, 
standing  in  continual  suspicion,  and  daily  expectation  of  further 
disorders,  tumults,  and  seditions.  These  distractions  delayed 
the  expedition  against  Monte  Pulciano,  which  however  was  at 
length,  in  1204,  undertaken ;  when  dissensions  arose  among  all 
the  cities  of  Tuscany  upon  the  question,  whether  Monte  Pul 
ciano  was  within  the  dominion  or  country  of  Siena.  It  was 
customary  to  settle  such  disputes  by  a  congress  or  parliament  of 
rectors,  from  all  the  cities  of  the  league  or  company  of  Tuscany ; 
and  such  deputies  were  now  appointed,  who,  after  hearing  the 
parties,  and  examining  witnesses,  determined  in  favor  of  Siena. 
"  It  was  a  custom  of  the  emperors  to  maintain  a  vicar  in  Tus 
cany,  who  lived  and  held  a  court  in  San  Miniato  Altedesco, 
who  gave  an  account  of  the  causes  where  an  appeal  was  had 
to  the  emperor,  and  received  the  rents,  taxes,  tolls,  customs, 
tributes,  and  other  gifts,  all  which  the  jurists  call  by  one  word, 
regalia;  and  when  it  happened  that  the  emperor  sent  no  vicar 
to  the  province,  he  sent  nuncios  to  particular  cities,  and  called 
them  counts  of  those  places  to  which  he  sent  them,  with  the 
same  authority.  This  method  of  collecting  together  and  making 
a  congress,  which  was  used  in  those  times  by  the  cities  of  Tus 
cany,  was  generally  very  useful  to  the  whole  province,  because 
the  rettori,  (so  they  called  the  representatives  who  composed  the 
congress,)  as  soon  as  they  understood  that  a  difference  had  arisen 
between  one  city  and  another,  although  they  were  sometimes  of 
different  and  contrary  factions,  exerted  themselves,  according  to 
the  obligations  of  their  magistracy,  with  extreme  diligence,  to 
bring  them  to  an  accommodation ;  and  if  sometimes  their  en 
deavors  to  adjust  the  difference  did  not  succeed,  and  the  war 
was  prosecuted,  the  congress  nevertheless  stood  firm,  and  the 
rectors  did  not  fail  to  do  every  thing  in  their  power  for  the  uni 
versal  benefit,  and  at  all  times  appeared  together  in  parliament 
for  the  public  business  which  occurred,  and  to  make  their  elec 
tions,  at  the  stated  periods,  of  new  rectors ;  for  they  had  no 
authority  when  alone  in  their  respective  cities,  but  only  while 


SIENA.  213 

they  were  assembled  in  one  body.  As  it  was  their  duty  to  be 
always  attentive  to  the  common  interests,  if  so  many  people, 
for  their  private  ends,  excited  by  the  ambition  of  dominion,  or 
by  avarice,  two  qualities  very  unfriendly  to  peace,  had  not  left 
off  this  federal  order,  the  ruin  of  so  many  republics  had  not 
perhaps  been  effected;  but  as  the  men  of  that  age  were  little 
accustomed  to  reflection,  and  had  less  prudence  in  providing  for 
futurity,  they  were  still  less  solicitous  to  leave,  by  the  means  of 
letters,  the  memory  and  history  of  their  times,  so  that  only  a 
confused  notion  of  a  few  particulars  remains  at  this  day,  not 
only  of  this  confederation,  but  of  an  infinite  number  of  other 
great  events  and  institutions. 

"  In  1206,  the  discords  followed  between  Philip  of  Suabia  and 
Otho  of  Saxony,  and  their  contention  for  the  empire,  in  which 
Philip  was  superior ;  which  were  followed  by  wars  with  the 
Saracens,  and  between  Siena  and  Florence,  in  which  the  army 
of  the  former  was  defeated  at  Montalto. 

"  In  1209,  the  king  of  the  Romans  came  into  Italy,  and  con 
firmed  the  privileges  of  Siena,  particularly  those  of  electing 
consuls,  coining  money,  and  administering  justice,  reserving 
appeals,  and  other  conditions  expressed  in  the  grant  of  Henry ;  but 
declaring,  that  neither  Jacomo,  Aldobrando,  and  Henry,  sons  of 
Aldobrandino  Giuseppi,  and  other  nobles  who  held  signories  in 
the  county  of  Siena,  nor  their  subjects,  should  be  under  the 
podesta  of  the  city.  The  consuls  endeavored  to  divert  the 
minds  of  the  people,  now  at  peace  with  Florence,  by  employing 
them  in  rebuilding  the  castles,  and  restoring  the  strong  places 
belonging  to  the  republic ;  but  they  found  it  impossible  to  sup 
press  or  divert  the  ambition  of  the  popular  multitude,  who, 
feeling  themselves  relieved  from  foreign  wars,  would  be  employed 
in  domestic  seditions.  As  they  were  at  liberty  to  choose  the 
podesta,  either  from  foreigners  or  from  the  nobility  of  Siena,  the 
choice  was  generally  made  from  among  the  latter.  The  people 
thought,  that  the  introduction  of  this  office  had  rather  been  a 
loss  than  an  acquisition  to  them  ;  and  that  the  nobles,  by  means 
of  it,  had  aggrandized  themselves.  They  insisted  that  this  should 
be  corrected  in  the  order  of  choosing  the  podesta  ;  and  to  remove 
all  occasion  of  dissensions,  and  maintain  the  public  tranquillity, 
the  gentlemen  concurred,  in  1211,  in  a  new  law,  that  the  podesta 
should,  for  the  future,  always  be  a  foreigner." 


214  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  pride  of  most  of  the  nobles  con 
curred  with,  if  it  did  not  excite  this  popular  humor;  for  the 
jealousy  and  envy  of  the  nobles  can  never  bear  to  see  one  of 
themselves  elevated  much  above  the  rest.  Regardless  of  equality 
among  the  people,  and  irreconcilable  enemies  to  any  appear 
ance  of  it  between  the  people  and  themselves,  they  must  always 
be  peers,  or  equals  among  one  another ;  and  when  a  king,  or 
any  other  first  magistrate,  must  be  placed  over  them,  they  always 
prefer  the  introduction  of  a  foreigner  to  the  elevation  of  one  of 
their  own  body. 

"  But  it  does  not  always  happen  in  these  cases,  that  by  taking 
away  the  cause,  the  effect  is  removed.  Those  who  are  grown 
inveterate  in  the  habits  of  dissension,  without  having  any  regard 
to  the  public  good,  and  without  the  least  cause  of  complaint, 
will  find  means  of  interrupting  and  disturbing  good  order.  The 
people  had  obtained  whatever  they  demanded,  yet  they  would 
not  lay  down  their  arms ;  and  the  multitude  appearing  in  con 
tinual  insurrections,  some  terrible  catastrophe  was  apprehended, 
and  would  have  occurred,  if  the  nobles  had  not  likewise  resorted 
to  arms,  and,  with  a  great  concourse  of  those  who  wished  for 
peace  and  order,  had  not  marched  through  the  city.  This 
procession  spread  a  terror  among  the  seditious,  who,  from  fear, 
laid  down  their  arms,  and  returned  to  their  houses.  Upon  this 
the  government  was  reassumed,  and  confirmed  by  the  punish 
ment  of  many  of  those  who  had  been  the  heads  of  this  commo 
tion.  The  first  who  was  created  podesta,  according  to  the  new 
law,  was  M.  Guido  di  Ranuccio  da  Orvieto. 

"  In  1221,  Frederick  II.,  after  his  coronation,  having  granted 
many  favors  to  several  lords  and  cities  of  the  Ghibelline  party, 
renewed  and  enlarged  the  privileges  of  Siena,  of  administering 
justice,  of  paying  the  gdbelle  or  imposts  only  at  the  gates  of  the 
city,  of  coining  money,  and  of  exemption  from  all  customs  and 
tributes  in  the  country.  These  exemptions  and  privileges  per 
haps  occasioned  a  demand  of  similar  favors  which  was  at  this 
time  made  by  the  territories  tributary  to  Siena,  such  as  Chiusi, 
Montelatrone,  Monte  pi  nzuto,  Potentino,  Luriano,  Vico,  the  lands 
of  the  abbey  of  St.  Antimo,  and  other  places.  But  as  this 
demand  occasioned  a  civil  war,  and  Siena  raised  a  force  both 
of  horse  and  foot,  which  they  were  ill  provided  to  resist,  they 
capitulated. 


SIENA.  215 

"  In  1222,  the  Count  Ranieri  da  Travale,  originally  of  the 
Morea,  in  the  Peloponnesus,  was  made  a  citizen  of  Siena,  and 
annexed  the  lands  and  castles  he  had  purchased  to  their  dominion. 
From  him  are  descended  the  Counts  of  Elci,  Montingegnoli,  and 
Fuosini.  But  the  city,  when  it  was  not  at  war  with  Florence, 
nor  against  the  pope,  nor  engaged  in  crusades,  nor  in  rebellion 
against  the  emperor,  was  almost  continually  engaged  in  dis 
putes  and  wars  with  the  mountains,  castles,  and  lords  in  its 
neighborhood,  though  in  alliance  with  it,  or  under  its  dominion ; 
and  whenever  a  moment  of  perfect  peace  occurred,  seditions 
and  tumults  broke  out.  With  the  conquest  of  Grosetto,  and  an 
increase  of  jurisdiction,  Siena  had  excited  much  envy  in  a  part 
of  those  cities  of  the  Guelphs,  in  Tuscany,  Florence,  Lucca, 
Orvieto,  and  Perugia,  which  were  in  a  league  against  the  other 
confederation  of  the  Ghibellines,  which  were  Siena,  Pisa,  Arezzo, 
and  Pistoia.  The  former  took  measures  to  oppose  the  Sienese 
in  their  favorite  enterprise  against  Monte  Pulciano,  and  this 
occasioned  a  series  of  altercations  and  wars,  not  only  among 
these  cities,  but  with  the  lords  of  the  mountains,  too  long  to  be 
related ;  but  at  last  Monte  Pulciano  was  taken,  and  peace 
concluded. 

"  The  cities  of  Tuscany,  now  in  profound  peace,  and  all 
apprehensions  of  its  interruption  removed  by  the  presence  of  the 
emperor  in  Italy  with  a  powerful  army,  the  Sienese  thought 
themselves  secure  from  the  stratagems  as  well  as  invasions  of 
their  enemies.  This  sense  of  security  aw^akened  in  the  minds 
of  the  multitude  in  the  city  of  Siena  the  same  desire  of  mak 
ing  themselves  masters  of  the  internal  government  of  the  re 
public,  which  at  former  times  they  had  entertained.  The  princi 
pal  heads  of  this  faction,  in  their  consultations  on  the  project, 
and  discoursing  on  the  means  of  carrying  it  into  execution, 
found  among  themselves  a  great  variety  of  opinions,  from  whence 
arose  violent  dissensions.  From  this  two  circumstances  occured, 
which  prevented  the  scandalous  disorders  that  usually  happen 
in  such  cases.  The  first  was  a  delay  of  the  conclusions  and 
resolutions ;  the  second  was,  that  in  this  interval  it  was  not 
possible  to  keep  the  plot  so  secret  and  concealed,  that  no  intima 
tions  should  be  given  to  the  nobility  of  what  was  meditated  to 
their  disadvantage,  and  the  manifest  danger  of  the  whole  city, 
if  to  such  an  end  the  people  should  recur  to  arms.  When  the 


216  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

nobles  had  discovered  and  considered  the  situation  and  the  dan 
ger  they  were  in,  not  only  from  these  commotions,  but  from  the 
hatred  which,  in  the  wars  of  so  many  years  with  Florence  and 
Orvieto,  they  had  provoked  in  the  minds   of  the  inhabitants, 
from  such  prudent  considerations  it  was  determined  to  treat 
civilly  with  the  popular  party,  without  the  din  of  arms,  lest  they 
should  be  involved  at  once  in  a  war  both  at  home*  and  abroad ; 
and  as  the  popular  party,  from   the   same   motives,  concurred 
with  the  nobles,  that  the  innovation  should  be  made  when  in 
their  civil  robes  rather  than  in  armor,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
council  should  be  assembled.     Here  they  deliberated  and  debated 
on  the  mode  of  reforming  the  government  of  the  city.     As  the 
popular  party  saw  no   possibility   of   obtaining  to  themselves 
the  government  exclusively,  as  they  had  at  first  projected  and 
reasoned  among  themselves,  they  demanded,  that,  in  addition  to 
their  third  part  in  the  council  and  magistracy,  it  should  be  left 
to  the  discretion  of  the  council  themselves  to  choose  the  other 
part  of  the  magistrates,  and  fifty  more  members  at  least  of  the 
council,  out  of  the  nobles  or  people,  at  their  pleasure.     To  this 
the  nobles  would  not  agree,  and  many  of  them  opposed  it  with 
such  efficacious  reasons,  as  made  it  appear  unreasonable  to  the 
popular  party  themselves,  and  the  petition  was  neither  granted 
nor  countenanced  by  many  votes.   Tolommei,  Malavolti,  Buon- 
signori,  and  Gallerani,  were  the  principal  speakers  among  the 
nobles ;  and  their  eloquence  was  employed  to  persuade  the  popu 
lar  party,  that  they  ought  to  be  contented  with  the  share  they 
already  enjoyed  in  the  republic,  and  esteem  themselves  under 
obligations  to  the  memory  of   their  grandfathers,  who  had  so 
benevolently  embraced  them,  and  taken  them  into  their  society ; 
and  having  received  so  great  a  favor  from  the  nobility,  who  had 
received  them  into  an  equality  with  themselves,  it  would  have 
been  a  more  rational  and  becoming  conduct  to  have  demonstrated 
their  gratitude,  by  acknowledging  the  benefaction,  and  coope 
rating  harmoniously  in  the  public  service,  in  the  imminent  dan 
ger  which  they  saw  over  the  commonwealth,  rather  than  excite 
every  day  fresh  seditions.     They  might  well  know  that  those 
who  had  held  the  government  hitherto,  were  not  men  of  so  poor 
capacities  as   to   have   occasion,  in   the   administration   of  the 
republic,  for  the  assistance  of  so  great  a  number  of  new  men, 
for  the  most  part  useless,  or  more  properly  pernicious,  by  their 


SIENA.  217 

contracted  understandings  and  small  experience ;  that  their 
project  was  the  more  alarming,  as  they  proposed  to  make  the 
magistrates  so  very  numerous ;  because  it  had  been  seen,  in 
numberless  examples,  and  experience  had  found  it  an  infallible 
observation,  that  states  had  been  seldom  well  governed  by  the 
multitude,  in  whose  deliberations,  besides  other  imperfections, 
the  opinion  of  the  most  ignorant  and  incapable  weighs  as  much 
as  that  of  the  most  prudent  and  experienced.  Those  cities 
which  had  rashly  committed  the  government  to  the  multitude, 
had,  to  their  misfortune,  more  frequently  experienced  revolutions 
in  the  state,  than  those  which  restricted  the  government  to  a  few ; 
for  although,  to  a  superficial  view,  the  equality  of  the  citizens  in 
the  public  deliberations,  where  the  votes  are  numbered,  but  nei 
ther  \veighed  nor  measured,  might  appear  a  just  and  reasonable 
thing;  yet  to  any  man  who  maturely  reflected  on  the  subject, 
it  must  appear  in  a  very  different  light. 

"  As  to  the  mode  of  making  the  elections  of  magistrates,  if  it 
were  possible  to  concede  to  the  people  the  share  they  demanded, 
these  orators  demonstrated  that  it  must  prove  pernicious  to  the 
commonwealth.  The  method  proposed  was  a  way  to  take  from 
the  council  the  free  power  of  creating  the  magistrates,  the  pro 
posed  law  imposing  the  necessity  of  creating  one  third  of  them 
from  one  faction  exclusively,  and  taking  away  the  discretionary 
right  of  electing  those  who,  according  to  the  occasions  and  times 
of  war  or  of  peace,  might  be  the  best  qualified  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  their  office.  It  was  affirmed,  that  in  a  very  little  time 
it  would  be  seen,  that  not  only  the  nobles,  who  had  from  the 
beginning  ruled,  and  with  so  much  virtue  and  dignity  aggran 
dized  their  country,  but  even  that  those  popular  families,  which, 
for  a  space  of  a  hundred  years,  had  honorably  governed  and 
prospered  with  them,  would  by  this  innovation  be  thrown  out  of 
the  government.  That  this  invention,  as  now  proposed,  it  was 
easy  to  be  perceived,  had  no  other  end  in  view  than  to  introduce 
a  government  of  new  men,  by  pulling  down  those  who  had 
hitherto  maintained  it;  because,  as  the  council  in  the  election  of 
officers  was  bound  by  necessity  always  to  elect  a  third  portion 
from  the  popular  order,  it  might,  and  would  soon  happen,  that 
of  the  other  portion,  either  all,  or  at  least  a  part,  would  be  popu 
lar  members,  new  persons,  and  unexperienced  in  administration  ; 
and  the  nobles,  and  those  accustomed  to  government,  would  be 

VOL.  v.  19 


218  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

deposed,  to  the  grievous  loss  and  misfortune  of  the  public. 
When  it  was  admitted  that  every  citizen,  without  distinction, 
might  be  admitted  to  honors  and  to  government,  is  it  not  better 
that  the  council  should  have  the  free  faculty  of  making  their 
elections  of  persons  apt  for  their  offices,  that  men  may  be  excited 
by  this  motive  to  habituate  themselves  to  honorable  exercises 
and  virtuous  courses  ?  That  to  impose  the  necessity  of  electing 
another,  who  knows  that  he  must  be  elected  at  all  events,  is  to 
take  away  from  him  every  incentive  to  virtuous  behavior.  This 
would  be  precisely  the  way  of  bestowing  honors  on  sloth  instead 
of  virtue,  and  to  give  the  establishment  of  magistrates  to  the 
laws,  not  the  appointment  to  the  council,  who  will  be,  for  the 
most  part,  forced  to  make  the  election  contrary  to  their  judg 
ments  and  inclinations ;  an  indignity  too  great  to  be  offered  to 
that  senate. 

"  This  harangue  was  answered,  on  the  part  of  the  popular 
faction,  by  William  Gollucci,  who  said,  that  the  nobles  ought 
not  to  disdain  to  have  the  people  associated  with  them  in  the 
government  of  the  commonwealth,  among  many  other  reasons, 
because  they  very  well  knew  they  had  it  not  now  in  their  power 
to  say,  what  had  been  affirmed  by  their  grandfathers,  when  in 
the  beginning  they  refused  to  admit  the  people  to  any  share, 
that  popular  men  are  not  fit  to  exercise  magistracies,  nor  to  rule 
in  the  councils  of  the  city ;  for  having,  since  1135,  governed  in 
concert  with  them,  participating  only  in  a  third  part,  they  had 
given  such  assistance,  that  the  city  was  greatly  increased  in 
dominion,  riches,  and  population,  as  was  evident  to  all  men ;  so 
that  their  society  might  be  said  to  have  been  of  the  greatest 
public  utility ;  and  the  same  benefits,  and  still  greater,  might  be 
expected  in  future,  when,  instead  of  a  limitation  to  a  third  part, 
there  should  be  no  bounds  prescribed.  It  very  rarely  had  hap 
pened  that  any  city  had  arisen  to  grandeur,  if  it  had  not  admitted 
the  people  and  the  other  subjects  to  the  administration  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  to  the  magistracies.  '  This,'  said  he,  '  was 
the  ruin  of  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  Athenians,  who,  although 
they  we're  most  valiant  in  arms,  would  have  found  their  republics 
of  little  energy  and  short  duration,  if  they  had  excluded  their 
subjects  from  the  hopes  of  rising,  by  their  arms  and  other  virtues, 
to  honors  and  public  magistracies.  What  was  it  that  elevated 
Rome  to  its  superlative  greatness,  more  than  their  having  given 


SIENA.  219 

the  rights  of  citizens  to  privileges  and  honors,  to  all  in  Italy  who 
submitted  to  their  empire  ?  What  can  stimulate  your  own  citi 
zens  to  greater  alacrity  in  the  service  of  the  public,  than  the 
hope  of  arriving,  by  their  good  behavior,  to  the  highest  honors 
of  the  republic,  and  the  knowledge,  that  if  in  war  they  place 
themselves  in  the  post  of  danger,  they  are  sure  to  do  it  for  their 
own  proper  utility,  as  well  as  for  that  of  others  ?  What  interest 
can  you  believe  will  make  them  more  ardent,  animated,  and 
intrepid,  in  any  public  enterprise  ?  We  know,  moreover,  that  no 
government  can  be  properly  styled  a  republic,  which  does  not 
comprehend  all  the  people  of  the  city.'  By  these  reasons  he 
endeavored  to  persuade  the  senate,  that  is  to  say,  the  council, 
that  the  demand  made  by  the  people  was  as  much  for  the  public 
service  in  general,  as  their  own  in  particular ;  and  as  to  that 
which  had  been  said  by  the  grandees  against  receiving  new  men 
into  the  government,  he  replied,  that  as  all  other  things,  how 
ancient  soever  they  might  be,  had  a  beginning,  so  it  was 
with  nobility ;  '  as,  for  example,  we  may  say,  as  you  know  very 
well,  that  next  to  the  original  nobility  of  our  city,  with  Charle 
magne,  when  he  delivered  Italy  from  the  domination  of  the  Lom 
bards,  the  Malavolti  and  the  French  gentlemen,  who  since  have 
called  themselves  Bandinelli,  came,  who  were  received,  not  only 
into  the  number  of  the  citizens,  but  into  the  ranks  of  the  nobles 
and  patricians  of  Siena ;  after  that,  with  Otho  L,  when  he  ex 
pelled  the  Berengarii  from  Italy,  the  Salimbeni,  the  Tolommei, 
came,  who  in  like  manner  were  enumerated  among  the  nobles  and 
grandees  of  this  city ;  and  in  times  more  modern,  many  others, 
who  were  lords  of  several  castles  of  this  state,  as  the  Scorcialupi, 
who  since  have  called  themselves  Squarcialupi,  those  of  Tornano, 
of  Valcortese,  of  Berardenga,  Scialengha,  and  many  others,  who 
all  enjoy  the  title  of  nobility.  Finally,  our  grandfathers  were 
admitted  to  the  government  in  1135 ;  and  if  we,  their  descend 
ants,  have  retained  the  name  of  popular,  it  does  not  follow  that 
we  have  not  acquired  nobility.  For  what  reason  then,  if  your 
ancestors  have  accepted  foreigners  and  ultramontanes,  and  even 
conquered  lords  and  landholders  into  their  peerage,  should  not 
you  receive  your  own  proper  fellow-citizens,  those  who  are  born 
free  within  the  same  walls  with  yourselves,  and  run  the  same 
fortunes  with  all  others  ?  You  will  say,  because  they  are  not 
noble.  We  however  say,  that  all  those  others  in  this  kind  of 


220  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

nobility  were  not  more  noble  than  at  this  hour  these  are,  who, 
by  means  of  public  dignities,  have  acquired  nobility,  or  than 
they  will  be  who  shall  come  into  the  government  after  us ;  and 
as  we  shall  be  an  example  for  them,  so  will  they  be  to  those  who 
may  come  after  them ;  and  the  city  will  be  able,  by  this  means, 
to  preserve  for  a  longer  time  the  nobility  of  her  citizens ;  and,  as 
it  is  natural  that  whatever  has  a  beginning  must  have  an  end, 
new  noblemen  will  succeed  from  time  to  time  to  those  who  may 
fail,  and  the  land  will  be  better  peopled,  and  more  powerful.' 

"A  short  replication  to  these  arguments  was  made  by  Rinaldo 
Alessi,  who  said,  that  if  the  people,  since  they  had  participated 
in  the  government,  had  remained  more  quiet,  it  was  possible  the 
city  might  have  made  some  notable  acquisition ;  but,  as  every 
one  knew,  the  continual  seditions  which  the  popular  party  had 
excited,  had  raised  their  inordinate  desires,  and  disposed  them 
more  to  civil  wars  than  to  wars  with  their  hostile  neighbors ;  and 
that  those  acquisitions  which  they  had  made  had  been  obtained 
rather  by  the  incidents  of  the  times  than  by  any  other  reason ; 
that  the  ancient  gentlemen  who  came  formerly  with  Charle 
magne  and  the  first  Otho,  when  they  were  invited,  many  cen 
turies  ago,  to  inhabit  this  city,  had  the  signories  of  many  castles 
given  them  in  reward  of  the  illustrious  actions  which  they 
performed  for  the  service  of  the  empire,  by  Charles  and  Otho; 
and  that  more  splendor  and  nobility  had  accrued  to  the  repub 
lic  than  to  them  by  their  coming  to  inhabit  it.  And  the  same 
thing  was  true  of  the  other  lords  of  this  dominion,  who,  according 
to  the  accidents  which  have  occurred,  have  been  made  gentle 
men  of  Siena,  the  city  being  aggrandized  and  ennobled  by  the 
acquisition  of  their  families,  castles,  and  signories." 

By  these  speeches  we  see  that  neither  the  aristocratical  nor  the 
democratical  orators  aimed  at  any  thing  more  than  a  government 
of  all  authority  in  one  centre ;  but  the  legislative  and  executive 
power  were  to  be  lodged  in  one  assembly.  The  nobles  wished 
to  have  the  whole  house  to  themselves,  and  the  commons  wished 
the  same  thing,  though  each  party  temporized  and  modified  their 
language  with  some  regard  to  the  other.  The  loaves  and  fishes, 
the  honors  and  emoluments,  were  what  they  all  sought;  more 
than  liberty,  safety,  or  good  order ;  more  than  the  commerce,  arts, 
or  peace ;  more  than  the  prosperity,  grandeur,  and  glory  of  their 
country.  Not  one  of  them  thinks  of  giving  all  the  executive 


SIENA.  221 

power  to  the  podesta,  with  a  weapon  to  defend  it ;  not  one  thinks 
of  dividing  the  sovereign  legislature  into  two  assemblies,  giving 
to  the  nobles  and  people  an  equal  share ;  yet,  without  these 
arrangements,  every  intelligent  reader  of  their  history  at  this  day 
perceives  that  all  the  projects  of  either  party  for  amendment 
would  only  increase  the  evil,  by  inflaming  the  ill  humor. 

"After  many  discourses,  made  by  several  persons  of  both  parties, 
the  grandees  became  sensible  that,  if  they  should  recur  to  arms,  and 
defend  the  dignity  of  their  stations,  they  might,  in  the  war  which 
they  expected  with  Florence  and  Orvieto,  and  from  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  money,  put  all  in  danger,  by  refusing  to  concede 
something  to  accommodate  their  civil  discords ;  they  therefore 
concurred  in  the  opinion  that  prevailed,  that  the  council  should 
make  the  election  of  thirty  citizens,  fifteen  of  each  party,  who 
should  have  authority  to  propose  a  new  form  of  government,  since 
it  appeared  that  the  magistrates,  called  the  consuls,  after  the 
introduction  of  the  office  of  the  podesta,  that  of  the  four  purvey 
ors,  and  the  chamberlain  of  Biccherna,  were  no  longer  of  any 
authority  at  all,  and  that  there  was  a  necessity  to  think  of  making 
a  magistracy  of  a  greater  number  of  men,  and  of  more  authority 
concerning  the  affairs  of  the  state  and  the  administration  of  the 
republic.  The  thirty  persons  who  were  invested  with  this  full 
power,  or,  as  the  Florentines  called  it,  this  balia,  having  discoursed 
and  deliberated  some  time  upon  the  subject  of  their  commission, 
and  wishing  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  public,  as  well  as  gratify 
the  ambition  of  many  individuals,  by  constituting  a  numerous 
magistracy,  proposed  to  the  council  to  institute  a  magistracy  of 
twenty-four,  to  be  elected  by  the  council  out  of  the  whole  body 
of  the  people,  or  the  citizens  at  large,  on  condition  that  a  greater 
number  should  not  be  nominated  or  voted  for  from  one  faction 
than  from  the  other ;  and  as  it  was  understood  that  the  Emperor 
Frederick  was  soon  to  leave  Italy,  and  it  was  expected  the  Flo 
rentines  would  soon  attack  them  or  some  of  their  dependencies, 
the  measure  soon  obtained ;  the  four-and-twenty  magistrates 
were  immediately  created,  and  they  entered  on  their  offices  with 
great  spirit,  by  making  preparations  for  war  against  the  Floren 
tines  and  the  other  Guelphs." 

This  revolution,  if  a  bare  change  of  the  number  of  first  magis 
trates,  without  any  change  in  the  sovereignty,  can  be  called  one, 
was  in  1232,  while  the  emperor  was  at  Ravenna. 

19* 


222  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

The  Sienese  were  now  involved  in  constant  wars  with  their 
neighbors  till  1238,  when  the  discord  between  the  pope  and 
the  emperor  revived  the  animosities  of  the  ancient  factions  of 
Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  in  Tuscany,  as  well  as  in  many  other 
parts  of  Italy,  and  with  greater  hatred  and  animosity  than  ever ; 
nor  was  there  any  people  who  were  not  infected  with  this  de 
structive  contagion,  by  which,  without  having  any  other  cause 
of  quarrel,  they  fought  with  each  other  with  mortal  enmity ;  not 
only  one  city  against  another,  but  the  same  city,  divided  into 
these  factions,  combated  itself;  each  party  had  not  only  different 
ensigns,  under  which  they  marched  out  to  war,  but  they  distin 
guished  themselves  by  the  color  and  wearing  of  their  clothes,  by 
their  gait  and  air  and  gestures  of  the  body,  and  by  every  other 
the  smallest  circumstance ;  so  that,  at  the  first  aspect,  a  Guelph 
might  be  known  by  a  glance  of  the  eye  from  a  Ghibelline.  These 
were  not  the  only  divisions  among  the  Sienese,  but,  since  the 
introduction  of  the  magistracy  of  Twenty-four,  a  new  diversity 
arose  among  the  citizens,  and  a  new  distinction  of  party  names. 

"  This  government  did  not  please  all,  and  those  who  approved 
it  assumed  the  name  of  the  Twenty-four,  and  those  who  were 
dissatisfied  took  the  name  of  the  Twenty-seven.  Hatred  and 
resentment  increased  among  them  to  such  a  degree,  that  in  1240 
they  flew  again  to  arms,  with  most  violent  commotions  of  the 
whole  city,  the  slaughter  of  multitudes  on  each  side,  with  innu 
merable  robberies,  burglaries,  plunderings,  and  conflagrations  of 
houses  and  palaces,  and  other  crimes  committed  by  the  plebeians. 
But,  as  the  rabble  in  favor  of  the  Twenty-four  appeared  to  be 
the  strongest,  this  magistracy  survived  the  lawless  attempts  to 
destroy  it,  and  preserved  authority  enough  to  elect  M.  Aldo- 
brandino  di  Guido  Cacciaconti  podesta,  who,  by  his  prudence 
and  the  public  authority,  reduced  the  city  to  some  degree  of 
obedience  to  the  laws." 

The  secret  was,  that  the  pope  and  the  emperor  were  to  the  re 
publics  of  Italy,  what  Sparta  and  Athens  had  been  to  those  of  the 
Peloponnesus.  Each  must  have  a  party  in  every  city;  if  the 
nobles  were  on  one  side,  the  people  would  be  on  the  other,  and 
vice  versa;  and  every  art  of  seduction  was  employed  by  one 
power  or  the  other  on  both. 

The  Sienese  were  now  plunged  in  new  wars,  which  continued, 
almost  without  interruption,  till  1258.  "  The  cities  of  Tuscany, 


SIENA.  223 

which,  in  the  discord  between  the  pontiffs  and  emperors,  had 
followed  the  imperial  party,  and  were  denominated  Ghibellines, 
after  the  death  of  Frederick  II.  were  greatly  oppressed  by  the 
other  cities,  which,  having  followed  the  ecclesiastical  party,  were 
then  superior,  and  were  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Guelphs ; 
but  since  Manfred,  overcoming  the  forces  of  the  pope,  had  made 
himself  master  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  he  took  the 
Ghibellines  in  the  province  of  Tuscany  into  his  more  immediate 
protection,  and  placed  Siena  at  the  head  of  that  party.  As  Flo 
rence  was  the  head  of  the  Guelph  party,  each  city  in  its  turn  was 
an  asylum  for  the  exiles  of  the  other ;  which,  in  addition  to  the 
jealousy,  envy,  emulation,  and  selfish  views,  common  between 
neighboring  nations  as  well  as  cities,  proved  a  continual  provo 
cative  to  war." 

These  wars  and  rebellions  of  their  mountain  castles,  which  it 
would  fill  volumes  to  describe,  will  be  passed  over.  Yet  it  may 
be  proper  to  mention  the  rebellion  of  Monteano  and  Montemassi, 
when  the  Count  Giordano  demanded  in  the  senate  that  one  third 
of  the  city  should  be  armed  and  sent  out,  because  a  form  of  their 
constitution  is  upon  this  occasion  explained. 

"Although  the  Sienese  were  zealously  inclined  to  comply  with 
the  request  of  Giordano,  and  thought  the  expedition  very  inte 
resting  to  their  country,  they  would  not  depart  from  the  ancient 
order;  when  any  expedition  was  proposed,  for  the  subject  to  be 
maturely  considered,  it  must  have  been  proposed  in  the  council 
of  the  credenza,  and  consulted  on,  three  times,  on  three  several 
days,  in  the  general  council,  before  any  thing  could  be  determined. 
Upon  this  occasion  a  deputation  was  appointed  to  attend  the 
army,  consisting  of  the  podesta,  the  captain  of  the  people,  the  first 
three  members  of  the  office  of  Twenty-four,  and  twelve  good 
men,  buoni  huomini,  deputed  by  the  commons.  The  soldiers  and 
officers  in  these  expeditions  served  without  pay,  in  imitation  of 
the  Romans,  who,  for  three  hundred  and  forty-nine  years,  conti 
nued  to  go  out  to  war,  every  one  at  his  own  expense." 

This  is  universally  alleged  by  historians  as  a  proof  of  their  love 
of  their  country;  but  it  may  as  well  be  considered  as  a  proof  of 
their  poverty  and  their  ignorance,  for  there  is  no  example  of  it 
among  rich  and  well-informed  people  ;  it  would  be  indeed  unjust 
and  unequal.  As  the  provisions  and  apparatus  were  found  by 
the  public,  and  plunder  was  made  wherever  they  went,  it  is  very 


224  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

probable  that  the  most  of  their  armies  were  better  fed  and  more 
profitably  employed  abroad  than  at  home,  as  manufactures  were 
little  known,  and  commerce  and  navigation  in  their  infancy. 

"  In  the  year  1259,  ambassadors  were  sent  to  the  King  Man 
fred  by  the  council  of  the  credenza,  who  from  the  council  gene 
ral,  or  the  senate,  which  signified  the  same  thing,  had  the 
authority  deputed  to  them  to  give  commissions  and  instructions 
to  ambassadors.  The  council  of  credenza  was  a  secret  council, 
as  its  name  imports,  in  which  were  secretly  treated  those  things 
which  were  to  be  proposed  to  the  general  council,  which,  repre 
senting  the  whole  city,  had  greater  authority  ;  but  no  proposition 
could  be  made,  if  it  had  not  first  obtained  in  the  council  of  cre 
denza. 

"  This  is  very  remarkable ;  the  sovereignty  was  in  one  single 
assembly,  the  general  council ;  the  leading  members,  however, 
had  influence  enough  to  get  themselves  separated  from  the  body 
by  its  own  act,  all  secret  affairs  committed  to  them,  and  nothing 
permitted  to  be  brought  into  the  general  council  without  their 
previous  approbation.  This  arrangement  was  afterwards  imi 
tated  by  the  grand  dukes.  In  the  council  of  the  people,  nothing 
could  be  treated  which  had  not  previously  been  treated  in  the 
consistory,  and  by  them  proposed. 

"Another  council  obtained  in  Siena,  which  has  been  men 
tioned  before,  called  the  council  of  assembly,  of  fifty  members 
for  each  third,  which,  at  stated  periods,  was  changed  by  the 
general  council,  and  limited  by  them  in  authority."  So  that  the 
whole  sovereignty,  the  whole  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive 
authority,  was  literally  in  one  centre,  that  of  the  general  council ; 
and  all  other  assemblies,  councils,  magistrates,  and  officers,  were 
only  committees  and  deputies  of  that  body.*  In  this  council  of 
credenza  the  secret  treaty  was  made  with  the  Count  Giordano, 
and  ambassadors  sent  with  his  to  Manfred. 

In  the  year  1260,  the  memorable  battle  of  Monte-aperto  was 
fought  between  the  Florentines  and  Sienese,  in  which  the  latter 
obtained  a  complete  victory,  and  reduced  Florence  to  the  brink 
of  destruction.  At  this  glorious  period,  when  their  great  rival 
Florence  was  reduced  to  such  extremities  as  to  be  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  emperor  and  the  Ghibellines,  and  make  peace 

*  Malavolti,  lib.  i.  della  Seconda  Parte,  fol.  7  and  8.  Croniche  Sanese,  Ap. 
Muratori,  Her.  Ital  Script,  torn.  xv.  pp.  29,  30,  &c. 


SIENA.  225 

with  Siena  upon  her  own  terms  ;  when  so  many  other  people 
and  territories  were  daily  submitting  to  their  jurisdiction,  and 
ambassadors  of  congratulation  were  arriving  from  all  parts,  is  it 
not  surprising  that  union  and  harmony  at  home  should  not 
accompany  such  transports  of  joy  as  appeared  in  every  part  of 
their  dominions  ?  Yet,  in  a  government  so  constituted,  a  dis 
pute  among  a  few  young  gentlemen  at  a  bath  of  Petriuolo  was 
sufficient  to  divide  the  whole  city. 

"  In  this  rencounter  one  Baroccino  di  Bencivenne  Barocci,  a 
youth  of  the  popular  order,  was  killed  by  M.  Robba  Renaldini. 
Of  this  homicide  M.  Bennucio  Salimbeni  was  also  accused,  who, 
besides  being  banished  together  with  M.  Robba,  and  both  having 
their  palaces  demolished  by  the  fury  of  the  people,  because  Benci 
venne,  father  of  Baroccino,  was  of  the  magistracy  of  the  Twenty- 
four  then  governing  the  city,  and  through  the  hatred  which  the 
people  bore  to  the  nobles,  was  condemned  in  a  fine  of  twelve  thou 
sand  pounds,  and  rigorously  held  in  prison  in  irons,  till  his  father 
Salimbeni  was  obliged  to  pay  it.  So  rigid  a  punishment,  trans 
gressing  as  they  thought  all  bounds  of  justice,  provoked  some 
of  the  nobles,  who  would  not  remain  exposed  to  the  discretion, 
and  insolence  of  the  multitude,  daily  excited  in  commotions 
against  them  ;  so  they  left  the  city,  and  retired  for  safety  to  Radi- 
cofani,  a  glace  by  its  situation  sufficiently  strong.  Upon  this 
the  magistrates  declared  them  of  the  party  of  the  Guelphs, 
which  provoked  them  to  overrun,  with  some  troops  of  horse  and 
their  followers,  the  dominions  of  the  republic  in  the  country,  and 
plunder  the  lands  of  their  enemies.  For  it  was  by  their  instiga 
tion  they  believed  the  magistrates  had  been  induced  to  pass  a 
decree  so  pernicious  and  prejudicial,  not  only  to  them,  but  to 
the  whole  city,  by  the  divisions  which  must  arise  from  it  among 
the  citizens,  reviving  the  hatred  of  factions,  both  of  Guelphs  and 
Ghibellines,  nobles  and  people,  which  through  the  fear  of  foreign 
wars  all  parties  had  united  unanimously  to  bury  in  oblivion,  to 
their  infinite  advantage  in  the  late  war  against  their  national 
enemies.  From  this  disorder,  arising  out  of  that  leisure,  idleness, 
and  insolence,  which,  after  the  overthrow  of  their  external  enemies 
had  taken  the  place  of  fear,  factions  and  parties  took  occasion 
to  revive  their  enmities,  and  to  study  to  offend,  provoke,  and  injure 
one  another.  Having  learned  in  Siena  the  mischief  which  had 
been  done  in  the  country  by  the  fugitives,  now  become  exiles, 
o 


226  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

a  strong  force  of  German  troops,  as  well  as  tjie  militia,  was  sent 
out,  both  cavalry  and  infantry.  After  an  obstinate  engagement, 
and  many  slain  on  both  sides,  among  whom  were  several  per 
sons  of  consequence,  the  exiles  were  defeated  by  superior  num 
bers,  and  the  discipline  of  the  German  troops." 

This  was  in  1262.     The  history  proceeds  with  accounts  of 
rebellions  and  submissions  of  one  and  another  of  their  moun 
tains,    castles,  signories,  and   other  little    dependencies,  and  of 
the  persecutions  of  their  exiles  and  the  Guelphs  ;  and  all  things 
in  this  period  are  done  in  the  name  of  the  commons  of  Siena, 
till  the  year  1266,   when  "  many   ill  humors   began    to  appear 
again    in  the    city ;    and   by    the    accidents   which    had    occur 
red,  so    great    a  change  had  been  produced   in    the    minds  of 
the  multitude,  that  it  appeared  to  the  major  part  of  those  con 
cerned  in  the  administration,  that,  for  the  universal  satisfaction, 
it  was  become  necessary  to  remodel  the  government  in  a  better 
form.     To  this  end  sixty  citizens  wrere  elected."    But  by  whom  ? 
Not  by  the  people,  or  citizens  at  large,  nor  by  a  convention  of 
their  deputies,  the  only  legitimate  expedient  for  framing  a  new 
constitution,  but  by  the  general  council.     "  Into  this  number  of 
sixty  were   elected,  indiscriminately,  both  grandees  (for  so  the 
nobles  were  now  called)   and  popular  men,  with   authority  to 
reform  the  city  by  new  regulations,  by  which  they  were  to  intro 
duce  universal  peace  and  tranquillity  among  the  citizens.     But 
a  contrary  effect  was  produced ;  for  it  seeming  to  the  popular 
party  as  if  the  sixty,  in  the  many  months  spent  since  they  as 
sembled,  had  been  making  provisions  favorable  to  the  nobles, 
they  assumed  that  these  had  been  made  to  their  prejudice  and 
damage,  and  rose  with  astonishing  noise  and  tumult ;  and  rush 
ing  impetuously  in  arms  to  the  palace  of  the  bishopric,  where 
the  sixty  were  congregated,  and   setting  fire  to  the  gate,  they 
constrained  them  to  renounce  the  magistracy;  many  of  them, 
both  of  the  popular  citizens  and   of  the  nobles,  returning  pri 
vately   to   their    houses,    through    fear,    went    out   of   the   city. 
Others,  taking  arms,  endeavored  to  defend  the  public  honor  and 
their  own;  among  whom  were  many  of  the  houses  of  Tolommei, 
Salimbeni,  Piccolomini,  Accarigi,  and  other  families,  who,  com 
bating  in  a   variety  of  places,  after  having  done  and  suffered 
much  injury,  causing  the  death  of  many  persons  of  every  party, 
and  not  longer  able  to  resist  so  great  a  multitude,  were  forced 


SIENA.  227 

to-  depart  from  Siena,  together  with  M.  Inghirano,  captain  of 
the  people,  who  in  this  contest  had  shown  himself  favorable 
to  the  magistracy  of  the  Sixty.  As  soon  as  they  had  departed, 
they  were  declared  rebels  and  enemies  of  their  country,  their 
estates  were  confiscated,  and  the  palace  of  the  Tolommei  de 
molished,  as  well  as  another  of  the  Piccolomini,  and  the  tower 
of  the  sons  of  Salimbeni,  and  the  houses  of  Accarigi.  The 
instrument  of  all  this  ruin  was  one  Master  Lutterio,  who  is 
named  without  a  surname ;  and  another,  named  Ferrucio,  was 
sent  as  a  commissary  to  Campriano,  to  demolish  the  palace 
of  Ranuccio  Tolommei,  &c.  In  this  new  sedition,  excited  by 
the  multitude  against  the  magistrates  of  the  Sixty,  though  it  was 
not  properly  a  quarrel  between  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  nor 
entirely  between  the  nobles  and  the  people,  those  who  had  before 
been  driven  from  the  city  took  it  up  and  united  with  the  exiles 
of  the  Guelph  party,  who,  incited  by  the  favoring  victory  of  King 
Charles,  and  uniting  with  the  Orvietans  and  the  Counts  Aldo- 
brandeschi,  did  infinite  damage  in  the  dominions  of  Siena,  and 
in  a  few  days  made  themselves  masters  of  the  lands  of  Monte 
Pulciano,  of  Torrita,  Menzano,  Cerreto,  and  many  other  places, 
which,  rebelling  against  the  city,  surrendered  to  its  exiles.  The 
greater  part  of  Tuscany,  by  these  and  similar  divisions,  stood  in 
constant  trouble  and  danger.  Moved  by  this  consideration,  the 
citizens  of  Siena  who  held  the  government,  desirous  of  reuniting 
and  reconciling  their  exiles,  that  they  might  preserve  the  state 
from  still  greater  confusions,  sent  ambassadors  of  the  Ghibelline 
party,  one  of  whom  was  the  bishop  of  Siena,  to  Rome,  to  the 
pope  Clement  IV.,  praying  his  interposition  to  conclude  a  peace 
between  them  and  their  exiles  and  confederates.  The  pope 
accepted  the  office  of  mediator,  and  a  peace  was  concluded 
August  2,  1266,  and  confirmed  by  all  parties,  with  promises  of 
mutual  forgiveness." 

New  connections  were  formed  with  Charles  of  Anjou,  King 
of  Naples,  and  fresh  wars  engaged  in,  which  kept  the  minds  of 
the  citizens  employed,  though  the  Sienese  and  the  Ghibelline 
cause  met  with  defeats  and  disasters,  which  reduced  it  so  low, 
that  Siena  was  left  alone  to  support  it.  This  adversity,  how 
ever,  had  one  good  effect,  "  On  the  fifteenth  of  August,  1270,  it- 
produced  a  peace  between  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  in  Siena; 
and  the  twenty-four  magistrates,  with  twelve  buoni  homini  of  the 


228  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

commons,  meeting  in  one  assembly,  agreed  that  in  future  the 
government  should  be  administered  by  thirty-six  magistrates, 
of  nobles  and  commons  in  equal  portions,  with  the  title  of  The 
Thirty-six  Governors  of  the  City  and  Community  of  Siena. 
This  was  followed  by  a  league  with  Florence,  under  the  auspices 
of  Charles,  King  of  Naples.  The  party  of  the  Guelphs  was  now 
so  powerful,  and  the  Ghibellines  so  depressed,  that  the  Sienese, 
who,  like  all  other  people  under  governments  so  constituted, 
with  parties  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  merit,  without 
any  mediator  between  them,  always  stood  on  the  brink  of  sedi 
tion,  turned  the  scale  rather  in  favor  of  the  Guelphs  ;  and  these, 
as  soon  as  they  felt  their  power,  rose  upon  the  Ghibellines,  and 
drove  them  out  of  the  city. 

"  Understanding  that  King  Charles  was  at  Viterbo,  they  sent 
ambassadors  to  congratulate  him  on  the  happy  success  of  affairs 
in  Tuscany,  who  presented  him  with  four  thousand  five  hundred 
golden  florins  in  behalf  of  the  republic,  the  Guelphs  being 
desirous,  upon  this  their  first  appearance  in  power,  to  show  their 
gratitude  ;  and  a  diet  of  Guelph  ambassadors  was  soon  held  in 
the  castle  of  Florence.  The  Sienese  Ghibellines  in  exile  were 
nevertheless  troublesome,  appearing  in  many  places  in  arms,  and 
ravaging  the  country,  till  the  Guelphs  marched  out,  fought,  and 
routed  them.  When  this  was  done,  they  in  their  turn  took 
vengeance,  by  demolishing  the  castles  and  towers  of  the  Ghibel 
lines,  both  in  the  city  and  country.  In  1272,  the  pope  Gregory 
X.  again  interposed  his  mediation,  and  obtained  the  restoration 
of  the  Ghibellines  both  in  Siena  and  Florence ;  and  the  stipula 
tion,  promising  them  protection,  was  ratified  by  the  college  of 
thirty-six  governors  of  the  city  and  commons  of  Siena." 

But  the  minority  is  never  happy ;  indeed,  they  are  always 
oppressed  by  the  majority,  where  there  is  not  a  separate  execu 
tive  and  an  independent  judicial,  whose  interest  as  well  as  duty 
it  is  to  be  impartial  between  them.  In  a  little  time  the  Ghibel 
lines,  who  were  returned  to  Siena,  found  by  experience  the  truth 
of  this  observation.  They  found  that  they  had  not  the  same 
privileges*  with  others,  nor  the  same  chance  for  honors,  nor  the 
same  security  of  their  reputations,  as  when  formerly  they  had 
shared  the  government  with  the  Guelphs.  Living  in  little  credit, 

*  Tanto  fti  sempre  piu  potente  il  favor,  che  la  Giustitia  nelle  citta  partial!, 
com'  e  stata  quasi  sempre  la  citta  di  Siena.  Malavolti,  lib.  iii.  part  ii.  p.  44. 


SIENA.  229 

having  small  hopes  of  any  change  in  their  favor,  and  knowing 
that  they  had  no  security  for  their  property,  liberty,  or  lives,  but 
in  the  mercy  of  the  major  party,  they  returned  into  the  country 
of  Siena,  and,  joining  with  the  Ghibelline  exiles  from  Bologna, 
renewed  the  old  troubles  and  the  usual  party  rage.  They  raised 
forces,  excited  rebellions,  and  formed  alliances  with  little  territo 
ries  and  signories,  till  they  were  able  to  meet  a  party  of  the  army 
sent  out  against  them  in  1277.  These  they  defeated  at  Pan, 
and  took  many  prisoners,  among  whom  was  Ridolfo,  the  cap 
tain,  whom  they  beheaded.  The  news  of  this  skirmish  and 
defeat  threw  the  Sienese  army  into  such  a  sudden  panic,  that 
they  betook  themselves  to  flight,  without  having  seen  their 
enemy,  and  without  any  military  order  returned  to  the  city. 
Such  an  excess  of  timidity,  such  an  infamous  cowardice, 
though  it  is  not  unprecedented  nor  uncommon  even  among 
the  bravest  troops,  could  not  fail  to  occasion  great  indignation 
in  Siena. 

"  When  the  multitude  considered  how  easily  the  enemy  might, 
if  they  should  have  the  resolution  to  follow  their  advantage,  enter 
the  city  itself,  and  join  their  partisans  there,  they  rose  in  a  tumult, 
and  ran  with  great  fury  to  the  defence  of  the  gates,  and  stood  in 
arms  all  the  rest  of  that  day  and  the  following  night.  In  the 
morning,  finding  that  the  enemy  had  less  ardor  to  follow  than 
their  own  army  to  fly,  they  laid  down  their  arms,  but  went  about 
the  streets  of  the  city,  discoursing  in  much  ill  humor,  that  the 
divisions  of  the  nobles  might  very  easily  prove  the  ruin  of  their 
country,  if  some  remedy  was  not  discovered ;  and  they  declared 
that  they  would  no  longer  be  disturbed  by  exiles,  nor  com 
pelled,  by  the  discords  among  the  gentlemen,  to  be  forever  in 
war,  and  in  danger  of  losing  their  lives  and  their  property.  It 
appeared  to  them  that,  for  the  common  tranquillity,  a  peace 
ought  to  be  concluded,  as  proposed  by  the  pope's  legate,  who 
had  been  sent  to  recommend  a  reconciliation  between  the  people 
of  Tuscany.  The  Sienese  of  the  Guelph  party,  who  governed 
the  city,  influenced  by  these  murmurs,  the  legate's  exhortations, 
and  a  weariness  of  civil  war,  which  held  them  in  continual  agi 
tation  and  danger,  both  in  their  public  and  private  affairs,  agreed 
at  last,  in  1279,  to  a  peace  with  their  exiles,  who,  without  any 
further  noise  of  arms,  and  to  the  universal  satisfaction  of  all  par 
ties,  were  restored  to  their  country  and  their  honors,  under  the 

VOL.  v.  20 


230  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

podesterate,  or,  as  they  chose  to  call  it,  the  signory  of  Matthew 
de'  Maggi  of  Brescia." 

In  the  next  year,  1280,  in  the  podesterate  of  Alberigo  Signo- 
regi  of  Bologna,  the  palaces  of  the  Incontri  were  burnt  and 
demolished  by  the  fury  of  the  people,  instigated  by  the  Guelphs ; 
a  convulsion  which  originated  in  the  usual  source,  the  divisions 
and  enmities  among  the  gentlemen,  and  produced  the  usual 
effect,  an  idle  and  useless  attempt  to  reform  the  government,  by 
restraining  the  power  to  fewer  hands,  without  dividing  and  sepa 
rating  it  into  its  natural  departments.  The  thirty-six  magistrates 
were  now  reduced  to  fifteen,  as  if  the  number  of  members,  not 
the  nature  of  their  power,  had  done  the  mischief;  and  it  was 
ordained  that  no  gentleman  could  be  of  the  number  of  fifteen, 
but  all  must  be  popular  men ;  as  if  noble  demagogues  and  popu 
lar  demagogues  were  not  all  equally  absurd,  ambitious,  proud, 
and  tyrannical,  when  they  have  no  necessity  to  be  wise,  modest, 
humble,  and  equitable.  This  decree  was  as  tyrannical  as  any 
that  can  be  conceived ;  for  if  it  were  admitted  that  a  descent 
from  a  line  of  benefactors  to  their  country  was  no  merit,  nor  any 
argument  for  employing  a  citizen  in  public  offices,  surely  it  is  no 
demerit,  nor  any  argument  for  excluding  him.  The  reason  as 
signed  for  it  was,  that  the  pride  of  the  nobility  increased  and 
accumulated  by  their  bearing  the  public  authority,  and  that  they 
ought  not  to  have  the  power  to  make  their  pride  and  arbitrary 
dispositions  more  intolerable,  nor,  by  their  divisions  among  them 
selves,  to  disturb  so  frequently  the  public  peace  and  quiet  of  the 
other  citizens,  as  they  had  done  in  times  past ;  as  if  the  pride  of 
new  men  were  not  equally  or  even  more  exalted  by  power,  their 
dispositions  apt  to  become  more  arbitrary,  and  their  divisions 
even  more  intractable  and  furious,  which  is  the  certain  truth 
of  fact. 

"  These  fifteen  new  magistrates  were  called  the  governors  and 
defenders  of  the  commons  and  people  of  Siena ;  but  by  this  arbi 
trary  institution  they  neither  quieted  themselves  nor  reunited  to 
them  the  exasperated  minds  of  the  nobles.  Without  considering 
the  damage  which,  in  the  divided  situation  of  their  principles, 
opinions,  and  affections,  would  result  not  only  to  themselves,  but 
to  the  whole  city,  weakened  to  such  a  degree  by  its  divisions, 
that  malignant  humors  and  irreparable  animosities  must  be 
generated  from  fresh  hatreds  and  revenge,  and  without  seeing 


SIENA.  231 

that  the  exaltation  of  the  popular  faction,  patronized  as  it  was 
by  the  supreme  magistrates,  would  prove  their  depression,  the 
Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  in  a  few  months  after,  again  flew  to 
arms ;  and  part  of  the  multitude  taking  side  with  the  Guelphs, 
many  of  the  faction  of  Ghibellines  were  driven  out  of  the  city,  at 
the  head  of  whom  was  M.  Niccolo  Buonsignori,  a  man  of  great 
reputation,  and  in  great  credit  for  his  valor  with  the  soldiers  and 
princes  of  those  times.  His  fame  had  procured  him  many  fol 
lowers  of  the  Ghibelline  faction ;  and  having  received  information 
that  the  Ghibellines  who,  after  his  departure,  had  remained  in 
Siena,  were  grievously  oppressed  by  Orsini,  the  podesta  of  that 
city,  he  wished  to  deliver  them  from  such  injustice,  and  vindicate 
their  cause.  By  the  aid  of  the  Counts  of  Santa  Fiore,  from  whom 
he  had  no  small  number  of  men,  he  approached  one  night  to  the 
gate,  to  which  the  Ghibellines  in  Siena,  with  whom  he  had  an 
understanding,  rushed ;  and  having  suddenly  made  a  breach,  he 
entered  the  city.  Guided  by  several  citizens,  with  their  assistance 
he  fought  all  night  and  the  next  day ;  but  was  finally  driven  out 
again.  The  battle  upon  this  occasion  between  the  parties  was 
general,  for  the  bells  of  the  commons,  which  were  upon  the 
tower  of  Mignanelli,  had  rung  to  arms,  and  the  people  had 
very  generally  risen.  Danger  was  affronted  on  all  sides,  and 
the  struggle  was  furious.  Although  the  Ghibellines  had  by 
force  of  arms  made  their  way  to  the  market,  the  Guelphs  put 
them  to  flight,  massacring  some,  and  making  many  prisoners, 
leaving  among  the  dead  M.  Jacomo  Forteguerri,  who  was  one 
of  the  heads  of  the  faction.  Niccolo  found  himself  surrounded 
with  a  host  of  his  enemies ;  but,  although  on  horseback,  he 
retreated,  defending  himself  with  that  fierce  intrepidity  that  so 
commonly  appears  in  civil  wars,  and  went  out  of  the  city 
through  the  same  gate,  accompanied  by  great  numbers  of  the 
nobles  of  Ghibelline  houses,  as  the  Forteguerri,  Paliaresi,  Salvani, 
Ugurgieri,  Ragnoni,  and  others,  who  would  not  remain  in  the 
power  of  an  enraged  enemy,  and  retired  to  the  territory  of  Rigo- 
magno.  This  was  on  the  fifteenth  of  July,  1281.  Matthew 
Orsini,  the  Roman,  being  podesta,  was  afterwards  sent  by  the 
magistrates  of  Siena,  the  fifteen  governors  and  defenders  of  the 
commons  and  people  of  Siena,  with  an  army  composed  of  the 
men  of  the  third  of  San  Martino,  and  other  people  summoned 
from  the  other  thirds,  to  attack  the  Ghibellines  in  Rigomagno. 


232  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Here  the  exiles  had  fortified  themselves,  and,  when  attacked,  as 
they  had  expected,  defended  their  strong-hold  with  great  bra 
very  ;  but  at  length  they  were  forced  to  evacuate  it,  and  leave 
the  ground  to  the  Guelphs,  who  having,  at  the  expense  of  much 
slaughter  on  both  sides,  got  possession  of  it,  razed  the  walls, 
and  cut  off  the  head  of  Neri  di  Belmonte,  a  captain  of  the 
Ghibellines,  whom  they  had  taken  prisoner,  in  retaliation  for  a 
similar  severity  committed  by  them  on  Ridolfo  della  Treguena, 
a  few  years  before,  when  they  defeated  the  Guelphs  at  Pari. 

"  In  1282,  the  Count  Silvatico  de'  Conti  Guidi  was  podesta, 
and  the  Sienese,  the  other  castles  of  their  state  being  intimidated 
by  the  examples  made  at  Rigomagno,  sent  them  orders  not  to 
receive  the  exiles,  nor  any  other  Ghibellines,  but  to  resist  them 
in  arms,  to  demolish  the  walls  of  Monte  Fallonica,  those  of  St. 
Agnolo  in  Colle,  and  those  of  Monticiano,  in  which  territories 
M.  Niccolo  Buonsignori  had  attempted  to  make  a  stand,  and 
from  which  he  made  a  predatory  war  upon  Siena  for  some 
months,  with  several  exiles  from  that  city  and  other  places. 
Martin  IV.,  a  Frenchman,  succeeded  to  the  pontificate,  and  by 
his  favor  King  Charles  regained  his  former  credit  in  the  cities  of 
Tuscany,  and  was  restored  to  the  dignity  of  senator  of  Rome,  to 
the  infinite  dissatisfaction  of  the  Ghibelline  party,  who  upon  this 
occasion  were  wholly  deprived  of  any  share  in  the  government 
by  the  triumphant  Guelphs,  both  in  Siena  and  in  many  other 
cities." 

And  this  is  ever  the  object  of  a  prevalent  faction  or  a  decided 
majority,  to  monopolize  the  whole  government  to  themselves,  by 
the  total  exclusion  of  the  minority ;  and  when  possessed  of  the 
whole  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  power,  they  drive  into 
exile,  confiscate,  behead,  and  oppress  in  every  way,  without 
control. 

"  The  Sicilians  broke  out  in  rebellion  against  Charles ;  and 
while  his  forces  were  employed  in  attempting  to  reduce  them, 
the  Sienese  of  the  Guelph  party,  who  governed  the  republic, 
to  prevent  their  Ghibelline  exiles  and  rebels  from  attempting 
some  innovation  under  favor  of  the  revolution  in  Sicily  against 
King  Charles,  the  head  and  protector  of  the  Guelphs,  sent 
a  new  army  into  the  country  to  persecute  and  plunder  the  Ghi 
bellines ;  and  this  year  the  fifteen  governors  and  defenders  of 
the  people  and  commons  of  Siena,  the  consuls  of  the  merchants, 


SIENA.  233 

the  consuls  of  the  manufacturers  in  wool,  the  signors  of  the  other 
arts,  the  signors  gonfaloniers  of  the  companies,  and  the  captains 
of  the  country,  were  all  congregated  together  with  the  podesta  in 
the  general  council,  and  a  treaty  made  with  Ranieri  de'  Conti 
d'  Elci  and  several  other  lords. 

"A  war  continued  between  Charles  and  Peter,  King  of  Aragon; 
and  in  1283  Charles  died,  which  again  raised  the  hopes  of  the 
Ghibellines,  and  excited  them  to  arms  in  Romagna  and  in  the 
territories  of  Siena,  where  they  did  infinite  mischief,  sometimes 
approaching  and  entering  the  city  itself.  At  last  an  army  was 
raised,  and  they  were  put  to  flight.  If  this  vigorous  exertion  had 
not  prevented  them,  they  were  in  a  fair  way  of  regaining  the 
ascendency  in  the  city,  where  great  discontents  prevailed ;  for 
the  government,  in  1280,  having  been  placed  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  popular  party,  as  has  been  related,  the  gentlemen 
could  not  with  quiet  minds  submit  to  it ;  and  although,  by  the 
divisions  among  them  into  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  they  were 
disunited  among  themselves,  it  was  much  feared  by  the  ruling 
party  that,  when  the  enemy  should  approach  the  city,  they  would 
endeavor,  with  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  popular  men,  (for 
these  too  were  divided,)  to  make  themselves  masters  of  some 
part  of  the  state  with  their  arms,  although  they  had  not  been 
able  to  obtain  it  by  their  beans.  The  Sienese,  in  determining 
all  questions  in  their  councils  and  among  their  magistrates,  made 
use  of  beans  as  votes,  white  ones  for  the  affirmative  and  black 
for  the  negative.  The  governing  party,  knowing  that,  by  the 
death  of  Charles  and  the  other  mishaps  which  followed  it,  the 
party  of  the  Guelphs  was  much  debilitated,  thought  it  neces 
sary  in  this  year,  1284,  to  make  many  new  provisions  for  the 
security  of  the  state ;  among  which,  as  they  could  not  confide 
in  the  multitude,  they  thought  to  restrain  the  government  to  a 
smaller  number  of  persons,  it  appearing  to  them  that  they  could 
more  securely  confide  in  a  few,  whose  abilities,  being  more  united, 
would  have  greater  energy  than  those  of  many,  and  that  they 
might  more  easily  agree  among  themselves,  treat  with  greater 
secrecy,  form  their  resolutions,  and  decide  upon  execution  for 
the  defence  of  the  state.  After  long  and  angry  controversies, 
they  gained  the  concurrence  of  the  nobles  in  one  opinion,  though 
little  satisfactory  to  them,  that  the  fifteen  magistrates  should 
be  reduced  to  nine ;  and  this  was  the  original  of  the  order  of  the 
20* 


234  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Nine  in  Siena ;  and,  that  they  might  with  more  convenience 
attend  upon  the  public,  without  being  interrupted  by  their  private 
affairs,  it  was  ordained  that  they  should  continue  for  two  months 
continually  assembled  in  the  same  palace,  and  live  at  the  expense 
of  the  republic ;  and  it  was  declared  that  in  this  office,  denomi 
nated  '  The  Nine  Governors  and  Defenders  of  the  Commons  and 
People  of  Siena,'  although  the  nobles  were  to  have  a  part  in  all 
the  other  magistracies,  no  noblemen  could  be  elected.  The  sta 
tute  says, '  De  numero  dominorum  novem,  vel  ipsius  officii  offici- 
alis  non  possit  aliquis  de  aliquo  casato  civitatis  Senensis,  nee 
aliquis  nobilis  de  civitate,  vel  jurisdictione  Senensi.  Domini 
novem,  qui  sunt,  et  esse  debent  defensores  communis  et  populi 
civitatis  Senensis,  et  districtus,  ac  jurisdictionis  ejusdem,  sint  et 
esse  debeant  de  mercatoribus,  et  de  numero  mercatorum  civitatis 
prEedictae,  vel  de  media  gente.' " 

The  nature  of  the  animal  is  nowhere  revealed  in  stronger 
characters  than  in  this  curious  record,  where  a  government  in 
one  centre,  and  that  centre  a  group  of  merchants,  with  unblushing 
heads,  exclude  not  only  all  the  plebeians  and  lowest  class  of  labor 
ers,  but  all  the  artists,  mechanics,  and  men  of  the  three  liberal 
professions,  and  all  the  landholders  of  the  country,  and  monopo 
lize  every  thing  to  themselves,  as  they  would  monopolize  a  mer 
chandise  or  forestall  a  market.  There  appears  a  ridiculous  varia 
tion  of  the  numbers  of  this  magistracy  for  many  years  together, 
as  if  they  thought  the  faults  of  the  government,  which  every  one 
felt,  were  owing  to  this  circumstance ;  and  the  same  fickleness 
appeared  in  all  the  other  cities  of  Italy,  particularly  Florence, 
where  the  number  of  priori  was  once  three,  then  six,  afterwards 
twelve,  presently  eight.*  This  form  of  government  was  as  detest 
able  to  the  plebeians  as  to  the  nobles ;  and  the  wars  between 
Genoa  and  Pisa,  and  the  expeditions  against  rebellious  lords,  and 
the  death  of  four  princes  in  this  year,  1285,  Charles,  Philip,  Peter, 
and  Martin  the  pope,  could  not  prevent  the  Ghibellines  and  the 
common  people  (il  popolo  minuto)  of  Siena  from  uniting  against 
the  Nine. 

*  Quare  quatuordeeim  virorum  officio,  qui  mixti  ex  utroque  genere,  civitatem 
regebant  antiquato,  priores  artium  creavere,  tres  ab  initio  creates  constat,  postea 
sex,  mde  duodecim,  mox  octo;  publicis  aedibus  inclusi,  nee  aliud  quicquam,  quain 
de  republica  cogitare  jussi  sunt,  et  sumptus  ex  publico  eis  praebiti,  tempus  autem 
hujus  magistratus  biinestre  constitutuin  est.  Leonardo  Aretino,  in  Malavolti,  lib. 
iii.  part  ii.  p.  51. 


SIENA.  235 

"  For,  on  the  succession  of  Honorius  IV.  to  the  papacy  in  the 
place  of  Martin,  and  after  the  death  of  Charles,  his  son  being 
a  prisoner  to  the  Aragonese,  weakness  appeared  among  the 
Guelphs ;  and  the  Ghibelline  exiles  of  Siena,  assisted  by  the 
people  of  Arezzo,  were  encouraged  to  take  by  surprise  a  Sienese 
castle,  named  Poggio  a  Santa  Cicilia,  which  they  fortified ;  from 
hence,  with  troops  of  horse,  they  made  continual  incursions  and 
depredations,  not  only  upon  the  country  of  Siena,  but  other  con 
federated  cities  of  the  Guelph  party,  until  the  Sienese,  after  a 
siege  of  six  months,  unable  to  take  it  by  force,  had  reduced  it  by 
famine,  in  1286.  A  great  number  of  prisoners  were  made,  and. 
after  demolishing  the  walls,  delivered  to  the  podesta  to  be 
punished.  The  people,  however,  were  so  oppressed  by  their 
popular  mercantile  government,  and  so  much  preferred  that  of 
the  nobles,  that  they  took  their  part,  rose  in  convulsion,  joined 
the  Ghibellines  in  arms,  with  great  impetuosity  rushed  to  the 
palace,  and  compelled  the  nine  governors  and  defenders  of  the 
commons  and  people  of  Siena,  and  their  podesta,  Bartolomeo  de' 
Maggi  of  Brescia,  to  deliver  the  prisoners  into  their  hands,  to  be 
conducted  to  the  house  of  the  bishopric,  to  save  their  lives.  But 
no  sooner  had  they  come  out  of  the  palace  than  the  Guelphs, 
who  by  order  of  the  magistrates  had  been  summoned,  and  united 
with  the  soldiers  of  the  guards  and  garrisons,  a  kind  of  standing 
army  maintained  for  the  defence  of  the  state,  proceeded  to  oppose 
and  affront  the  Ghibellines,  who,  with  the  popolo  minuto,  had 
excited  this  sedition ;  and  finding  that  these,  thinking  the  prison 
ers  safe,  had  begun  to  disperse,  they  attacked  them  with  great 
fury,  slew  many,  put  the  rest  to  flight,  recovered  the  prisoners, 
and  cut  off  their  heads,  to  the  number  of  sixty-five,  among  whom 
were  several  principal  characters." 

The  union  of  the  plebeians,  the  popolo  minuto,  with  the  nobles 
and  Ghibellines,  against  the  government  of  the  commons  and 
Guelphs,  is  not  less  remarkable  than  the  distinction  established 
by  their  very  title  between  the  commons  and  people.  Both  are 
perfectly  natural,  for  the  popolo  grasso  can  never  bear  to  be  mixed 
with  the  popolo  minuto,  any  more  than  nobles  to  be  confounded 
with  commons ;  and  the  union  of  the  laborers  and  mechanics 
with  the  nobles,  against  a  government  of  dogmatical  merchants, 
by  whom  they  were  oppressed,  was  as  natural  as  that  which  has 
so  often  happened,  of  the  people  with  a  monarch,  against  the 


236  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

tyranny  of  nobles  and  patricians.  The  general  sense  of  the  city 
upon  this  occasion  appears  to  have  been  in  favor  of  the  nobles, 
and  their  opportunity  was  lost  merely  by  the  weakness  of  the 
human  understanding,  which  seldom  knows  how  to  seize  with 
promptitude  and  decision  the  critical  moment  that  decides  so 
many  great  events.  The  Ghibellines  were  not,  however,  sup 
pressed  ;  they  continued  to  assemble  in  the  country,  and  unite  in 
bodies  from  various  cities,  and  commit  frequent  depredations, 
laying  waste  the  country  both  of  Florence  and  Siena.  These 
civil  wars  continued,  without  interruption,  between  the  cities  and 
their  exiles,  with  various  fortune,  till  1292,  when  Siena  became 
so  weak,  and  the  government  so  tyrannical,  as  to  force  the  nobles 
to  sell  their  lands,  houses,  and  castles,  to  bear  the  expense  of 
defending  that  government  from  which  they  were  so  arbitrarily 
excluded.  Prosecuting  the  war  abroad  against  the  Ghibellines, 
and  plundering  the  nobles  at  home,  they  suppressed  both  at  last, 
and  began  to  entertain  lofty  thoughts;  at  the  public  expense 
they  built  magnificent  palaces  for  the  signori  of  the  commons  of 
Siena,  to  give  the  government  more  authority,  majesty,  and 
strength,  and  the  more  effectually  to  trample  down  the  pride  of 
the  nobility. 

"  To  this  end,  as  the  ambitious  desires  of  men  are  insatiable, 
although  Siena  was  at  full  peace,  and  without  the  least  suspicion 
or  apprehension  of  the  Ghibellines,  the  nine  magistrates,  who 
had  the  absolute  power  of  the  city,  taking  occasion  of  the  many 
private  enmities  and  personal  hatreds  which  had  grown  up,  and 
were  habitual  and  even  hereditary  between  many  noble  families, 
ordered  that  four  hundred  men  should  always  stand  in  arms  in 
each  third  of  the  city,  on  the  pretence  of  obviating  any  scandal 
ous  rencounter  that  might  suddenly  arise  between  one  family  and 
another.  To  these  standing  guards  they  gave  arms  and  ensigns, 
with  orders  that,  at  the  ringing  of  the  bells,  they  should  all  march 
to  the  piazza;  and  a  complete  arrangement  of  orders  was  given, 
that  at  the  call  of  the  magistrates  they  should  be  ready  to  quell 
the  scandals  and  quarrels  which,  to  the  great  danger  of  the  public 
as  well  as  private  persons,  they  said,  arose  from  the  discord  of 
the  gentlemen ;  and  to  prevent  the  gentlemen  in  such  cases  from 
moving  on  horseback  or  otherwise,  they  placed  at  the  head  of 
every  street,  and  even  at  every  corner,  an  enormous  iron  chain, 
to  be  drawn  upon  occasion  across  the  street,  and  prevent  their 


SIENA.  237 

passage.  Under  this  color  of  preventing  disorders  and  tumults, 
to  be  occasioned  by  the  discords  among  the  noble  houses,  the 
popular  party  were  thus  armed  without  opposition,  not  so  much 
to  prevent  the  pretended  disorders,  as  to  secure  themselves  from 
any  attempt  -of  the  nobles,  if  ever  they  should  unite  to  reinstate 
themselves  in  their  dignities,  and  obtain  a  restoration  to  that 
share  in  the  government  which  was  their  undoubted  right." 

For  the  consciences  of  these  mercantile  demagogues  must 
have  taught  them,  that  if  the  nobles  had  no  more,  they  had  at 
least  an  equal  right  with  themselves,  or  any  others,  to  partici 
pate  in  government;  and  thus  those  public  arms,  which  had 
been  provided  by  their  ancestors  for  the  conservation  of  their 
country  and  their  liberties,  were  now  most  insolently  converted 
into  the  weapons  of  civil  war,  and  turned  by  the  cunning  of  one 
party  against  the  rights  of  another;  and  whether  this  plague 
of  the  city  of  Siena,  and  all  the  other  republics  of  Italy,  was 
produced  by  the  natural  pride  of  the  nobility,  impatiently  borne 
by  the  people,  or  by  the  immoderate  jealousy  and  envy  of  the 
people,  or  whether  by  both  together,  it  was  not  the  less  fatal 
to  all  the  Tuscan  republics,  by  conducting  them  to  that  destruc 
tion,  to  which  all  republics  have  been  devoted  when  subjected 
to  any  government  in  one  centre,  whether  that  centre  be  the 
unbridled  licentiousness  of  the  multitude,  or  the  ambitious  and 
avaricious  discords  of  the  few. 

"  The  nobles  were  at  this  period  persecuted,  not  only  in  Siena, 
but  in  all  the  other  cities  of  Tuscany,  and  deprived  of  all  share 
in  government;  and  those  who  were  in  power  held  in  such 
detestation  the  very  name  of  nobility,  that,  thinking  the  judg 
ments  of  others  would  keep  pace  with  their  own  passions,  they 
ordained  by  public  laws,  that  such  as  would  formally  and 
solemnly  renounce  their  nobility,  and  declare  that  they  were  no 
gentlemen,  should  become  qualified  to  be  in  the  government,  and 
to  be  admitted  into  the  supreme  magistracy  ;  in  such  contempt 
were  held,  at  this  time  and  by  these  men,  those  advantages  and 
that  character,  which  in  other  places  have  ever  been  most  ar 
dently  desired  and  sought,  at  every  hazard  of  life  and  fortune,  and 
which  the  sons  and  descendants  of  these  very  merchants  have 
with  so  much  avidity  since  claimed,  insisting  on  being  entitled 
to  the  rank  and  title  of  nobles  and  gentlemen,  merely  because 
descended  from  magistrates  holding  the  power  of  the  state. 


238  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  Having  thus  excluded  all  gentlemen  from  the  administration 
of  the  republic,  and  extinguished  all  their  hopes  of  ever  recover 
ing  it,  these  tyrants,  the  nine  magistrates,  had  the  assurance  to 
constitute  a  new  regimen,  which,  under  the  name  of  a  popular 
government,  tended  more  to  give  the  power  to  a  few,  than  to 
distribute  it  generally ;  and  this  restriction  to  a  few,  although  it 
was  injurious  and  oppressive  to  some,  is  said  to  have  been  more 
useful  to  the  state,  and  of  longer  duration,  than  if  it  had  been 
relaxed  in  favor  of  the  many." 

Perhaps  it  is  universally  true,  that  if  the  whole  government 
must  reside  in  a  single  assembly,  it  is  more  safe,  peaceful,  and 
durable  in  a  few  hands  than  in  many,  an  aristocracy  than  a 
democracy. 

"  Having  modelled  the  government  according  to  their  own 
passions,  interest,  and  convenience,  they  proceeded  to  subdue 
the  rebellious  mountains  and  castles  in  the  country.  It  was  in 
this  year,  1299,  the  house  of  Austria  had  its  origin,  in  the 
elevation  of  Albert  to  the  empire.  The  wars  against  the  Turks, 
and  in  Sicily  and  Flanders,  occupied  the  spirits  in  some  degree 
till  1302,  when  the  many  enmities  among  the  noble  houses  in 
Siena  were  renewed  with  as  much  boldness  and  violence  as 
ever,  which  occasioned  frequent  tumults  and  continual  agitation 
in  the  city ;  parties  meeting  in  arms,  sometimes  upon  one  incident 
and  sometimes  on  another,  and  many  of  all  sides  falling  vic 
tims  to  their  fury ;  and,  from  the  number  of  clients  and  adhe 
rents  to  these  families,  all  the  orders  of  government  for  main 
taining  in  each  third  of  the  city  an  armed  guard  were  not 
sufficient  to  preserve  the  peace  ;  and  the  magistrates  feared  they 
would  not  long  be  able  to  keep  the  nobles  out  of  the  govern 
ment  ;  they  therefore  thought  it  prudent  to  try  another  method. 
When  any  quarrel  broke  out,  the  nine  magistrates  sent  for  the 
heads  of  those  families  which  were  engaged  in  the  brawl,  and 
endeavored  to  reconcile  them  ;  and  in  this  way  they  succeeded, 
in  some  degree,  to  reconcile  the  Malavolti  and  Salimbeni,  the 
Gigli  and  Squarcialupi,  the  Piccolomini  and  Pelacani,  the  Te- 
golei  and  Malavolti,  and  many  others. 

"  The  major  part  of  the  Guelph  cities  of  Tuscany,  in  1303, 
were  delivered  from  the  discords  and  dangers  which  they  had 
with  the  Ghibellines,  in  consequence  of  the  victory  obtained 
over  them  at  Campaldino ;  but  having  nobody  to  fight  with,  as 


SIENA.  239 

if  they  were  incapable  of  quiet  and  impatient  of  rest,  the  Guelphs 
divided  themselves  into  two  factions,  the  one  called  Bianchi, 
and  the  other  Neri.  This  pernicious  distinction  had  its  begin 
ning  in  Pistoia,  in  the  family  of  the  Cancellieri,  whence,  spread 
ing  through  many  other  cities,  it  infected  the  whole  province  of 
Tuscany,  and  part  of  Romagna.  The  city  of  Siena,  though 
naturally  inclined  to  divisions,  preserved  itself  some  time  from 
this  venomous  contagion,  chiefly  by  the  constant  occupation  it 
already  had  in  the  quarrels  between  the  people  and  the  gentle 
men,  which  would  not  allow  time  for  new  contests.  This  divi 
sion,  however,  broke  out  in  Florence,  very  near  them  in  neigh 
borhood,  where,  after  many  skirmishes  in  arms,  the  Bianchi  were 
overcome  by  the  Neri,  and  expelled  from  the  city;  and  all  the 
influence  of  the  pope,  with  his  spiritual  armor,  could  not  recon 
cile  them.  The  Bianchi  now  in  exile,  though  Guelphs,  united 
with  the  Ghibellines,  and,  assisted  by  the  Aretines  and  Bolonese 
of  the  same  faction,  made  an  attempt,  in  1304,  upon  Florence ; 
but  some  cavalry,  sent  from  Siena,  put  them  to  flight." 

The  detail  of  altercations  and  civil  wars,  within  and  without, 
between  these  complicated  and  contradictory  mixtures  of  Neri 
and  Bianchi,  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  nobles  and  commons, 
from  this  time  to  1309,  is  too  minute  to  be  related,  although 
there  was  no  pause,  no  interval  of  quiet.  In  this  year  the 
quarrels  between  the  nobles,  particularly  the  families  of  Tolom- 
mei  and  Salimbeni,  arising  merely  from  their  envy  of  each  other, 
and  their  emulation  in  feasting  and  entertainments,  broke  out 
anew.  Though  excluded  from  government,  though  plundered  in 
property,  these  families  had  still  admirers,  followers,  and  ad 
herents  among  the  people,  who  made  them  formidable  to  the 
magistrates,  and  gave  them  influence  to  weaken  the  government, 
more  than  they  possibly  could  have  had  with  their  whole  share 
in  a  well-constituted  state.  All  the  nobles,  with  their  followers, 
who  were  very  numerous,  as  well  as  the  multitude  of  people, 
their  friends  and  adherents  in  the  counties  or  signories  in  the 
country,  became  divided  by  this  private  quarrel  into  two  parties. 
Wonderful  was  the  jealousy  of  those  in  government,  and  their 
apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  the  state ;  and  to  secure  it,  as 
they  pretended,  from  all  danger  that  might  arise,  to  repress  the 
temerity  and  pride  of  the  seditious,  they  ordained,  that  for  every 
company,  in  town  or  country,  which  consisted,  in  all,  of  forty-two 


240  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

since  the  nobility  were  excluded,  there  should  be  appointed  one 
captain  and  one  gonfalonier,  as  there  used  to  be  anciently,  when 
the  city  raised  an  army  for  the  field ;  that  this  militia,  whenever 
any  tumult  was  to  be  apprehended,  and  in  all  other  emergencies, 
should  hold  their  men  in  arms  (but  none  of  the  nobility  were  to 
be  admitted  among  them,  as  they  were  in  former  times,  when 
the  companies  were  of  fifty-nine)  and  together,  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  gonfalonier  of  the  Third,  should  march  in  all  haste 
to  the  palace  with  their  public  ensigns,  and  there  execute  the 
orders  which  should  be  given  them  by  the  magistracy  of  the  Nine. 
For  the  same  purpose  they  organized  three  centurions,  three  com 
manders  of  brigades,  and  eleven  vicariates,  each  of  whom  had 
his  own  distinct  ensigns  and  colors. 

"  But  by  this  whole  system  of  forty-two  armed  companies, 
their  captains,  gonfaloniers,  and  centurions,  formed  in  appear 
ance  for  the  common  service,  and  under  color  of  suppressing  the 
feuds  of  the  grandees,  the  principals  of  the  party  who  governed 
the  city,  thought  to  pursue  their  own  inordinate  desire  of  reduc 
ing  the  government  to  a  smaller  number  of  persons,  by  means 
of  the  public  arms,  of  which,  through  this  artifice,  they  made 
themselves  masters.  They  therefore  prohibited  not  only  the 
noblemen,  but  many  of  those  popular  persons  who  had,  many 
years  before,  ennobled  themselves,  and  acquired  the  name  of 
families,  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  law  which,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  present  form  of  government  had  been  made,  that  those 
who  would  renounce  their  nobility,  and  reduce  themselves  to  the 
popular  order,  should  be  capable  of  being  magistrates.  Taking 
advantage  of  a  little  tumult  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  May,  1310, 
which  they  themselves  excited,  they  sounded  the  alarm,  and 
called  together  at  the  palace  their  whole  military  force ;  and  in 
stead  of  proceeding  to  suppress  riots,  or  punish  criminals,  it  was 
there  declared,  by  those  citizens  who  had  arrogated  to  themselves 
the  whole  government,  that  those  families  which  were  named 
in  writing  should  never  be  of  the  number  of  popular  families, 
but  they  and  their  descendants,  forever,  should  be  understood  to 
be  grandees,  and  incapable  of  serving  in  the  office  of  the  Nine, 
then  the  supreme  magistracy,  as  all  of  the  Ghibelline  party  had 
been  rendered  incapable  before ;  and  this  practice  was  common 
at  this  period  in  all  the  other  cities  of  Tuscany,  as  well  as  in 
Siena,  whenever  the  governing  party  had  a  mind  to  exclude  any 


SIENA.  241 

man  from  the  magistracy,  to  make  him  a  grandee,  which  is  the 
same  thing  as  a  noble.  Ninety  families  were  admonished,  as 
the  phrase  was,  that  is,  rendered  incapable  of  the  magistracy, 
for  being  noble,  or  for  being  made  and  declared  so  —  a  number 
that  comprehended  all  the  families  of  any  distinction  or  con 
sideration. 

"  Having  thus  reduced  the  government  to  a  small  number,  by 
excluding  everybody  but  themselves,  they  became  very  assidu 
ous  in  attending  the  magistracy,  in  order  to  make  the  most  of 
it ;  and  in  a  short  time  they  acquired  so  great  an  authority,  so 
much  wealth  and  power,  that  they  became  formidable  not  only 
to  the  nobles,  but  to  that  part  of  the  people  which  was  not 
admitted  by  them  into  the  government.  Holding  down  all  others, 
they  established  their  own  power  in  the  state  so  oligarchically, 
that,  like  other  despots,  they  were  obeyed  by  every  one  from 
fear.  The  Ghibelline  exiles,  however,  made  frequent  inroads 
upon  their  territories ;  and  the  disqualified  families  had  so  many 
friends,  that  these  nine  magistrates  were  kept  in  continual 
alarms.  In  1313,  some  of  the  nobles  appeared  to  have  so  much 
influence,  that  the  government  thought  it  necessary  to  reenact 
and  republish  their  militia  law,  and  the  law  of  exclusion  of  all 
the  nobles  and  grandees,  depriving  them  of  all  the  honors,  offices, 
and  privileges  of  the  commons.  They  sometimes  thought  them 
selves  so  secure  that  they  might  recall  their  exiles,  then  would 
suddenly  seize  and  imprison  them  ;  and  were  generally  employed 
in  foreign  or  domestic  wars,  or  in  quelling  some  rebellion,  till 
1315,  when  a  fresh  quarrel  broke  out  between  the  Tolommei  and 
Salimbeni,  two  noble  families,  and  produced  tumults  and  battles 
in  the  streets,  in  which  much  blood  was  shed,  and  the  city  thrown 
into  such  confusion,  that  the  militia,  when  called  out,  would  not, 
or  could  not,  obey  the  orders  either  of  the  magistrates  or  their 
own  officers.  The  whole  people  took  arms,  and  sided  with  one 
party  and  another,  some  for  government,  some  for  the  Tolommei, 
some  for  the  Salimbeni,  till  the  Nine  issued  a  proclamation,  that, 
upon  penalty  of  life  and  fortune,  both  parties  should  appear  in 
their  presence,  before  a  candle,  which  they  had  burning,  should 
be  consumed. 

"Wars  and  tumults  occupied  the  citizens  till  1318,  when,  upon 
the  disbanding  the  army  at  the  peace  with  the  city  of  Massa, 
the  troops  and  the  people  in  general,  who  expected  to  have  plun- 

VOL.  v.  21  p 


242  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

dered  it,  were  very  discontented,  and  two  classes  of  tradesmen, 
the  smiths  and  the  butchers,  began  a  riot  in  the  city  against 
their  captain,  calling  him  traitor,  and  collecting  tumultuous 
bodies  of  the  multitude.  The  captain,  finding  himself  in  great 
danger,  contrived  to  escape  their  fury,  in  which  he  was  favored 
by  some  noblemen,  who,  by  entertaining  the  people  with  soft 
words,  composed  their  anger;  and,  as  they  had  neither  any  head 
nor  guide,  they  were  easily  persuaded  to  go  home.  Although 
this  tumult  was  quieted  in  appearance,  the  minds  of  the  citizens 
were  much  altered,  and  there  was  danger  of  fresh  commotions. 
To  avoid  greater  inconvenience,  seeing  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  plebeians  stood  in  arms  through  fear,  with  their  shops  shut, 
to  defend  themselves  from  punishment,  the  magistrates  absolved 
them  from  all  penalties  incurred  by  those  who  had  been  in 
arms  in  the  late  tumult,  and  commanded,  under  grievous  pe 
nalties,  that  every  one  laying  down  his  arms  should  return  to 
his  business.  It  would  have  been  a  remarkable  thing,  if,  in 
a  factious  city,  like  Siena,  quieted  as  it  was  from  foreign 
wars,  new  seditions  and  civil  wars  had  not  been  fomented 
within ;  but  discontents  with  the  government  were  now  uni 
versal.  The  nobility,  the  plebeians,  and  the  middling  people, 
being  all  excluded  from  the  government,  excepting  the  nine, 
were  all  oppressed  and  all  provoked.  The  doctors,  as  they  called 
the  judges  and  notaries,  were  of  a  rank  and  character  as  nearly 
in  the  middle  between  the  nobles  and  plebeians  as  any.  These, 
excited  as  much  by  the  persuasions  of  the  other  persons,  as 
moved  by  their  own  interest,  came  forward  and  demanded  or 
petitioned  the  Nine  to  be  admitted  into  the  government  of  the 
city,  and  to  be  declared  capable  of  serving  in  the  supreme 
magistracy  of  the  republic.  Reasons  the  most  solid  and  cogent, 
as  they  thought,  were  urged  by  them,  to  show  that  their  preten 
sions  were  but  just  and  reasonable.  It  appeared  to  the  nine 
signori,  that  this  petition  was  impertinent,  and  an  offence  that 
merited  not  only  correction, but  a  severe  chastisement;  and  hav 
ing  rejected  it  with  much  bitterness,  they  decreed  the  punish 
ment  of  which  those  should  be  adjudged  worthy,  who,  from  such 
interested  motives,  should  seek  to  disturb  the  civil  orders,  and 
interrupt  the  common  quiet  of  the  city.  The  doctors  and  nota 
ries  they  dismissed  from  their  offices,  and  declared  them  incapable 
of  holding  any  office  in  the  city  or  country.  This  high-spirited 


SIENA.  243 

edict  excited  the  indignation  and  despair  of  the  doctors  and 
notaries,  and  they  entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  the  butchers, 
smiths,  and  other  plebeians,  to  assassinate  the  whole  nine,  with 
all  their  adherents,  take  possession  of  the  palace,  make  them 
selves  masters  of  the  state,  and  appoint  one  of  the  Tolommei,  who 
favored  the  enterprise,  podesta,  another  nobleman  captain,  a  third 
proconsul,  and  thus  to  distribute  all  the  offices  of  state  among 
their  leaders  in  the  conspiracy. 

"With  this  intention,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  October,  1318,  the 
conspirators  arose  in  a  tumult,  raised  a  loud  cry  against  the  nine, 
and  demanded,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  a  participation  in  the 
government ;  but  they  were  soon  met  by  a  large  body  of  cavalry 
and  three  hundred  infantry,  who  were  then  kept  in  pay,  to  be 
sent  to  Genoa  in  the  service  of  King  Robert,  and  whom  the  nine 
magistrates,  having  some  intimation  of  this  enterprise,  not  wil 
ling  to  trust  their  own  guards  alone,  had  ordered  out,  for  their  secu 
rity.  A  furious  battle  ensued,  and  much  bravery  was  displayed 
on  both  sides  ;  but  as  the  commotion  had  been  excited  by  the 
plebeians  themselves,  and  was  encouraged  but  faintly  by  the 
nobility,  chiefly  with  a  view  to  try  their  strength,  the  forces  of 
government  prevailed ;  yet  the  plebeians  sustained  the  shock 
with  more  firmness  than  was  expected  ;  and  if  they  had  been 
judicious  enough  to  wait  till  the  regular  troops  were  gone  to 
Genoa,  would  have  carried  their  point.  The  greater  part  of  the 
gonfaloniers,  centurions,  and  captains,  concurred  with  the  multi 
tude,  in  desiring  to  acquire  the  benefits  of  civil  life,  and  the  rights 
of  citizens ;  but  the  magistrates  were  favored  by  one  part  of  the 
gentlemen,  who  were  not  well  pleased  that  the  government  of 
the  city  should  be  reduced  totally  into  the  hands  of  the  plebeians, 
and  thus  obtained  from  Florence  some  forces,  under  the  command 
of  one  Bingeri  Rucellai,  by  whose  assistance  the  multitude, 
being  first  disheartened  by  the  non-appearance  of  their  leaders, 
were  finally  dispersed.  Some  of  the  leaders  of  the  butchers,  &c. 
were  beheaded,  and  Rucellai  rewarded  with  the  ensign  of  the 
white  lion,  the  arms  of  the  people  of  Siena. 

"  When  the  tumult  was  quieted,  and  the  city  purged  by  the 
punishment  of  the  principal  delinquents,  the  nine  sent  succors 
to  King  Robert  at  Genoa,  and  to  the  Guelphs  at  Brescia,  Cre 
mona,  and  Perugia ;  and  thus  they  became  employed  in  all  the 
wars  abroad ;  but  even  this  was  not  enough,  in  1324,  to  prevent 


244  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

the  feuds  between  the  two  noble  families,  the  Tolommei  and  Sa- 
limbeni,  whose  hatred  produced  many  murders  and  assassina 
tions,  many  other  single  combats,  besides  general  and  more 
sanguinary  actions  between  parties  of  their  followers  in  the 
streets,  both  by  night  and  by  day.  In  1325,  the  Guelphs  were 
defeated  by  Castruccio  Castracani,  Sign  or  of  Lucca,  near  the 
castle  of  Altopascio,  where  he  made  a  great  slaughter,  and  many 
prisoners,  and  brought  both  Florence  and  Siena  into  imminent 
danger ;  but  this  was  not  sufficient  to  prevent  another  tumult,  in 
which  the  podesta  took  one  part,  and  the  captain  another;  many 
were  insulted,  some  slain,  nor  was  the  disorder  suppressed  with 
out  grievous  fines  and  capital  punishments. 

«  In  1326,  Walter,  Duke  of  Athens,  vicar  of  the  Duke  of  Cala 
bria  in  Florence,  came  to  Siena,  and  demanded  the  signory  of 
that  city,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  obtained  that  of  Flo 
rence.  The  demand  appeared  to  the  citizens  very  strange, 
though  they  treated  him  with  great  magnificence.  They  thought 
it  proceeded  from  a  very  bad  principle,  and  worse  intention,  con 
sidering  the  sincere  and  affectionate  attachment  which  they  and 
their  ancestors  had  ever,  with  the  utmost  veneration,  demon 
strated  for  his  house,  and  the  great  and  many  tokens  of  fidelity, 
which  might  be  known  from  their  actions  towards  King  Robert, 
Kings  Charles  I.  and  II.,  and  towards  all  their  connections  on  all 
occasions  ;  and  as  it  appeared  to  them,  that  they  were  outrage 
ously  insulted,  and  by  him  from  whom  they  least  expected  it,  they 
suddenly  rose  in  a  great  tumult  in  arms,  and,  drawing  the  chains 
across  the  streets,  shut  up  their  gates,  lest  the  Florentines  should 
send  a  reinforcement.  They  not  only  prepared  for  defence,  but, 
their  suspicions  increasing,  also  to  attack  with  all  their  forces,  the 
lodgings  of  the  duke  himself  at  the  bishop's  palace,  and  give 
battle  to  his  people.  Such  a  commotion  and  concourse  of  so 
numerous  an  armed  multitude,  under  so  many  standards  of  their 
companies  and  vicariates,  demonstrating  that  in  this  the  city  was 
united,  and  not  divided,  as  had  been  represented  to  the  duke, 
upon  the  supposition  of  which  division  he  had  founded  his  de 
mand,  spread  a  terror  among  his  followers ;  and  demanding  to 
speak  with  the  magistrates,  it  was  agreed,  that  the  requisition 
of  the  duke  should  be  referred  to  a  senate.  Such  an  assembly 
was  accordingly  congregated,  to  the  number  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  senators,  who,  after  long  debates,  having  regard  both  to 


SIENA.  245 

the  liberty  of  the  republic  and  the  honor  of  the  duke,  determined 
that  Charles,  Duke  of  Calabria,  should  have,  for  five  years,  and 
no  longer,  power  to  elect  the  podesta  of  Siena  from  the  number 
of  three,  who  should  be  proposed  to  him  by  the  people  of  Siena ; 
that  he  should  not,  however,  be  called  podesta,  bat  vicar  of  the 
duke,  on  condition  that  every  vicar,  before  he  should  take  upon 
him  the  office,  should  take  an  oath  to  observe  the  laws  and  sta 
tutes  of  the  city  of  Siena ;  and  the  citizens  well  knowing  of  how 
much  detriment  to  cities  are  divisions  and  animosities,  the  duke 
easily  persuaded  the  Salimbeni  and  Tolommei  to  make  a  truce 
for  five  years." 

In  1328,  the  nine  magistrates  made  a  census,  or  description  of 
the  families  of  the  city,  third  by  third,  and  there  were  found  ele 
ven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eleven  heads  of  families  in  the 
whole,  nobles,  grandees,  substantial  people,  and  lesser  people 
all  together.  The  calamities  of  famine  and  pestilence,  as  well 
as  war  and  sedition,  which  happened  in  1329  and  1330,  though 
the  magistracy  of  nine  discovered  too  much  insensibility,  and 
too  little  activity,  to  relieve  the  people,  we  pass  over  as  evils  not 
proceeding  immediately  from  the  form  of  government,  and  too 
afflicting  to  humanity  to  be  related. 

In  1331,  a  fresh  affray  happened  between  the  two  great  fami 
lies  of  Salimbeni  and  Tolommei.  The  inveteracy  with  which 
ancient  and  honored  families  take  hold  of  a  nation,  and  become 
interwoven  with  each  other  and  the  whole  people,  so  that  it  is 
impossible  to  get  rid  of  their  influence,  appears  very  strongly  on 
this  occasion.  Though  excluded  and  robbed,  they  could  not 
dispute  without  setting  the  whole  city  to  disputing.  The  ren 
counter  between  two  noblemen,  in  which  one  was  killed,  pro 
duced  the  assassination  of  another,  and  the  whole  city  took  the 
part  of  the  one  or  the  other,  and  tumults  and  commotions  in 
arms  threatened  universal  ruin,  till  the  government  issued  a 
proclamation  against  the  two  principal  actors,  offered  rewards  for 
their  lives  as  assassins,  and  raised  a  force  to  confirm  it,  which 
obliged  them  to  fly  to  Ferrara,  where  they  and  the  other  Tolom 
mei,  their  descendants,  were  long  afterwards  known  by  the 
nickname  of  The  Assassins.  But  this  could  not  prevent  fresh 
tumults  and  homicides  in  Siena,  between  the  same  families  in 
1332 ;  nor  others  between  the  Malavolti  arid  Piccolomini,  in 
1333,  which  were  renewed  in  1334,  notwithstanding  the  employ- 

21* 


246  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

ment  the  city  had,  through  this  whole  period,  in  foreign  affairs. 
In  1335,  the  league  was  renewed  between  the  Guelph  cities,  and 
particularly  between  Siena  and  Florence.  In  1337,  an  accommo 
dation  was  attempted  between  the  quarrelsome  nobles,  but  with 
out  much  effect ;  but  in  1342  their  ungovernable  passions  broke 
out  again  in  homicides  and  general  tumults. 

"  In  1343,  the  Duke  of  Athens  attempted  to  promote  his  own 
ambitious  views  of  obtaining  the  sovereignty  of  Siena,  by  pre 
tending  to  mediate  between  the  nobles  and  the  nine,  and  to 
reconcile  them  with  each  other ;  but  his  dissimulation  was  not 
profound  enough  to  deceive  either  party.  In  this  year  there  were 
three  conspiracies  at  once  against  the  Duke  of  Athens  at  Flo 
rence,  and  the  government  of  Siena  sent  ambassadors  to  his 
assistance ;  but  the  people  in  their  fury  had  committed  great 
disorders  and  many  homicides,  and  finally  besieged  the  Duke  in 
his  palace  for  a  time,  and  then  drove  him  out  of  the  city  ;  after 
which,  by  the  advice -of  the  Sienese  ambassadors,  they  reformed 
their  government,  instituting  eight  priori,  four  of  them  noble, 
and  four  popular ;  but  this  form  was  soon  demolished,  and  the 
government  became  as  popular  as  that  of  Siena  itself;  the 
nobles  were  excluded,  and  tempted  to  renounce  their  nobility,  in 
the  same  manner,  and  with  the  same  whimsical,  odious,  and 
vicious  effects. 

uln  1344,  the  Counts  of  Santa  Fiore,  and  the  Visconti  de 
Campiglia  were  made  citizens  of  Siena,  and  subjected  their 
lands  to  the  republic."  In  the  year  1346,  another  memorable 
commotion  happened.  "  Such  is  the  nature  of  the  people,  that, 
ever  desirous  of  seeing  new  things,  they  frequently  hold  in  con 
tempt  those  that  are  present ;  governed  more  by  their  wills  than 
their  prudence,  and  excited  by  vain  hopes  and  immoderate 
desires,  they  are  too  often  easily  stimulated  to  enterprises,  which, 
if  regarded  with  an  eye  of  reason,  would  be  found  impracticable. 
The  government  of  the  nine,  by  the  length  of  time,  by  their 
arbitrary  exclusions,  and  by  their  more  arbitrary  restriction  to  so 
small  a  number,  were  grown  so  odious,  not  only  to  the  nobles, 
but  to  a  great  part  of  the  multitude,  that  neither  could  patiently 
bear  that  a  few  popular  men  should  enjoy  every  thing,  and  be 
masters  of  all  men,  when  it  appeared  to  them  that  others  had 
more  merit.  From  conversations  and  consultations  they  pro 
ceeded  to  action,  and  many  popular  men  having  associated 


SIENA.  247 

under  Spinelloccio  Tolommei,  they  rose  in  a  mighty  tumult." 
There  is  no  room  to  doubt  that  they  would  have  risen  long 
before,  and  not  have  suffered  such  a  government  to  stand  a 
month,  nor  indeed  to  be  erected  at  all,  if  the  Tolommei  and 
Salimbeni,  the  Malavolti  and  Piccolomini,  could  have  agreed 
who  should  be  the  leader.  The  divisions  of  the  nobles  among 
themselves  had  alone  lost  them  the  government,  and  pre 
vented  their  recovering  it.  The  people  in  those  days,  and  in 
that  city,  were  utterly  incapable  of  planning  or  executing  any 
enterprise  whatever.  "A  noisy  uproar  of  'Down  with  the 
Nine  ! '  *  ran  through  the  city ;  but  the  insurgents,  not  having 
been  able  to  force  the  palace,  and  having  in  vain  attempted  to 
enter  several  houses  of  the  nine  magistrates,  which  were  well 
guarded,  some  of  them  entered  the  house  of  Berto  di  Lotto, 
where  there  happened  to  be  an  entertainment,  and  found  John 
Foscherani,  one  of  the  principal  men  in  the  government.  Him, 
with  his  son,  who  exerted  himself  nobly  in  defence  of  his  father, 
they  slew.  The  perpetrators  of  this  murder,  intimidated  with  the 
apprehension  of  punishment  for  what  they  had  done,  and  per 
haps  made  cowards  by  remorse  of  conscience,  rushed  out  of  the 
house,  and  committed  themselves  to  flight  for  safety ;  the  rest 
retired  to  the  houses  of  the  heads  of  the  conspiracy,  thinking  to 
assemble  a  great  number  of  their  partisans,  and  again  to  try 
their  fortune.  This  attempt,  however  ill-digested  and  unsuccess 
ful,  excited  a  terror  in  the  magistrates,  perceiving  that  a  part  of 
the  nobility  had  concurred  in  it,  and  fearing  they  had  not  force 
sufficient  to  suppress  it.  They  found  means,  however,  to  defend 
themselves,  by  a  strong  guard,  in  the  palace,  till  they  received 
assistance  from  Florence,  and  other  places  in  alliance  with  them, 
which  enabled  them,  by  means  of  the  captain  of  war,  to  appre 
hend  the  conspirators,  many  of  whom  were  beheaded,  and  others 
declared  rebels ;  after  which,  they  entered  into  a  new  league  with 
the  popular  government  of  Florence,  for  mutual  support  against 
such  insurrections.  This  convention  was  concluded  between 
the  syndics  of  the  commons  of  Florence,  and  the  syndics  of  the 
commons  of  Siena,  each  party  obliging  itself  to  aid,  favor,  and 
support,  with  their  councils  and  arms,  the  other,  and  in  every 
way  to  operate  for  the  conservation  and  maintenance  of  the 

*  Muoiano  i  Nove. 


248  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

peace  between  them,  and  the  internal  tranquillity  of  each,  under 
the  office  of  the  signori,  priori  of  the  arts,  and  the  gonfalonier  of 
justice  in  Florence,  and  that  of  the  signori  of  the  nine  governors 
and  defenders  of  the  commons  and  people  of  Siena,  declaring 
that  whatever  conspiracy  or  insurrection  should  be  made  against 
the  magistrates  or  government  of  either  city,  should  be  under 
stood  to  be  made  against  the  other,  and  its  whole  force  exerted 
for  the  destruction  of  the  conspirators. 

"  In  1348,  another  confederation  was  formed  in  Siena  between 
the  cities  of  Florence,  Siena,  Arezzo,  and  Perugia,  and  a  large 
army  raised  by  them;  and  in  1352,  another  against  the  Visconti. 
In  1354,  being  at  peace,  and  without  much  apprehension  of  any 
foreign  war,  there  did  not  fail  to  arise  in  Siena  persons  who 
spent  their  time  in  exciting  new  discontents  as  well  as  foment 
ing  old  humors,  which  they  hoped  would  soon  arise  to  seditions 
and  civil  war ;  for  those  who,  with  the  authority  of  the  Nine,  had 
so  long  governed  the  city,  had  acquired,  together  with  great 
power  and  immense  riches,  much  envy  among  their  fellow- 
citizens.  This  envy  and  resentment  had,  upon  many  occasions, 
given  birth  to  conspiracies  and  various  enterprises  for  wresting 
the  authority  out  of  their  hands ;  and  although  they  had  defend 
ed  themselves,  and  punished  the  principal  delinquents,  they  had 
never  been  able  to  eradicate  the  seeds  of  sedition  so  effectually 
but  that  many  remains  of  it  were  left  in  the  minds  of  their 
adherents,  which  went  on  continually  increasing  by  time,  till  the 
magistrates  were  seriously  apprehensive  that  the  common  people 
would  attach  themselves  to  Charles,  the  emperor,  and  by  his  as 
sistance  depose  them.  Desirous  of  possessing  themselves  first  of 
his  favor,  and  moved  by  the  persuasions  of  one  of  the  Salimbeni, 
whom,  on  account  of  his  enmity  to  many  of  the  noble  houses, 
they  had  taken  into  their  confidence,  they  sent  ambassadors  to 
Charles,  to  offer  him  the  obedience  pf  the  city ;  and,  so  ill  a 
counsellor  is  fear,  the  majority,  much  against  the  judgment  of 
many  of  their  colleagues,  were  for  submitting  freely,  without  any 
exception,  or  making  any  conditions,  hoping  by  his  assistance, 
or  at  least  without  offence  to  him,  or  opposition  from  him,  to 
reestablish  their  authority ;  not  considering,  that  having  always 
been  Guelphs,  and  by  so  many  offences  provoked  the  past 
emperors,  particularly  Henry  VII.,  his  grandfather,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him  to  judge  whether  they  submitted  from  any 


SIENA.  249 

motive  other  than  fear  or  necessity,  or  to  confide  in  their  fidel 
ity.  But  the  hour  was  come  when  this  form  of  government  must 
be  changed  into  another.  "  Charles  having  in  all  appearance 
benignly  accepted  the  offer,  dissimulating  his  intentions,  came  to 
Siena;  and  soon  after  his  arrival,  the  little  people,  il  popolo 
minuto,  by  Charles's  orders,  and  guided  by  the  Tolommei,  Mala- 
volti,  Piccolomini,  Saraceni,  and  even  some  of  the  Salimbeni,  with 
a  great  and  universal  commotion  of  the  whole  city,  rose  and  drove 
out  of  the  public  palace  the  nine  magistrates,  not  without  rob 
beries  and  murders  committed  by  the  rabble,  who  burnt  the 
caskets  and  boxes  in  which  were  kept  the  ballots  of  the  nine 
magistrates,  which  every  two  months  were  drawn,  one  by  each 
magistrate,  for  two  months  to  come.  Charles,  by  whose  consent 
and  orders  this  novelty  had  been  committed,  gave  a  commission 
to  twenty  citizens,  twelve  popular  and  eight  noble,  to  think  of  a 
new  plan  of  government.  The  twenty  elected  for  this  purpose, 
in  three  days,  ordained  that  a  new  magistracy  should  be  instituted, 
of  twelve  popular  members,  and  entitled  The  Twelve  Signori, 
governors  and  administrators  of  the  commonwealth  of  Siena,  to 
be  elected  four  from  each  third  of  the  city,  and,  as  the  nine  had 
done,  to  reside  in  the  palace  at  the  public  expense,  and  to  be 
changed  every  two  months,  with  full  authority  in  every  respect 
to  administer  the  government  of  the  republic,  in  company,  in  all 
their  deliberations,  with  twelve  noblemen,  four  for  each  third, 
who  might  inhabit  the  city  in  their  own  houses,  without  being 
obliged  to  live  in  the  palace,  except  when  they  should  be  sum 
moned  to  assemble  with  the  twelve  signori  for  the  public  service 
and  despatch  of  business,  as  it  should  occur;  and  this  number 
of  noblemen  were  called  the  College,  without  whom  the  signori 
could  not  come  to  any  resolution,  or  enter  on  any  deliberation 
relative  to  the  government  of  the  city.  A  council,  moreover,  of 
four  hundred  citizens  was  ordained,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of 
whom  were  to  be  nobles,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  populars, 
(of  those,  however,  who  had  not  been  of  the  office  of  the  nine,) 
who  were  to  be  elected  and  changed  every  six  months,  and  this 
was  called  the  General  Council.  The  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  after 
he  had  taken  the  crown,  returned  from  Rome,  and  remained  some 
days  at  Siena ;  where,  finding  little  good  understanding  between 
the  people  and  the  nobility,  he  took  occasion  from  their  discord 
to  attempt  to  make  himself  master  of  the  city  and  the  state,  and 


250  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

to  invest  it  in  the  Patriarch  of  Aquilea,  his  natural  brother.  To 
this  end  he  courted  the  people,  making  many  demonstrations  of 
benevolence,  with  many  favors  which  he  did  them  in  public  and 
private ;  and  he  so  operated  upon  them  that  they  were  content 
to  give  him  the  sovereignty,  and  put  him  in  possession  of  the 
fortresses ;  and  the  patriarch  having  in  this  manner  taken  the 
government  of  the  city,  the  twelve  signori  and  the  noble  college 
finished  their  office.  The  emperor,  felicitating  himself  that  he 
had  provided  his  brother  with  a  beautiful  dominion,  took  leave 
of  Siena,  and  went  to  Pisa.  There,  entering  into  negotiations 
to  make  himself  master,  as  he  had  done  at  Siena,  he  met  with 
some  difficulties,  which  soon  multiplied  upon  him,  in  consequence 
of  the  novelties  which  sprung  up  in  Siena ;  where  one  party  of 
the  citizens,  not  able  to  support  the  sovereignty  of  the  patriarch, 
which  trampled  down  the  nobles  and  first  populars,  and  studiously 
strove  to  aggrandize  the  common  people  and  the  multitude,  upon 
whom  he  justly  thought  his  greatness  depended,  arose  in  arms, 
closed  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  demanded  that  the  magistrates 
of  the  signori  of  the  twelve  governors  and  administrators  should 
return  and  reside  in  the  palace,  and,  together  with  the  college, 
reassume  the  government  of  the  republic ;  and  that  the  chains 
which  used  to  be  drawn  across  the  streets,  but  on  the  entrance 
of  the  emperor  had  been  taken  away,  should  be  replaced.  Three 
days  the  city  stood  under  arms,  before  they  obtained  of  the 
patriarch  their  demand.  At  length  the  magistrates  were  rein 
stated  and  the  chains  replaced. 

A  new  rumor  was  then  spread  in  the  city  about  certain 
strangers  who  had  been  taken  up,  because  they  said  that  they 
had  come  for  the  service  of  some  noblemen.  The  common 
people,  from  jealousy,  and  suspicion  of  plots  and  machinations, 
would  have  had  them  hanged ;  but  the  nobility,  with  many  of 
the*  greater  people,  defended  them.  Upon  these  occasions  there 
was  no  adequate  mode  of  deciding  such  questions  but  by  arms; 
to  these  they  accordingly  resorted,  and  the  twelve  signori  sent  to 
Pisa  to  demand  aid  from  the  emperor,  who  was  found  in  great 
perplexity ;  and  fearing  that,  by  the  inconstancy  of  the  people, 
the  patriarch  might  meet  with  some  fatal  accident,  he  answered, 
that,  upon  condition  they  would  consult  his  brother's  safety,  they 

*  Molti  de'  maggiori  popular!. 


SIENA.  251 

might  model  their  government  as  they  should  think  proper ;  that 
he  would  not  take  any  part,  as  he  had  no  particular  knowledge 
of  their  disputes.  The  prisoners  were  therefore  only  confined, 
and  the  patriarch  voluntarily  renounced  the  sovereignty  to  the 
twelve  magistrates,  who  were  already  returned  to  the  palace,  and 
the  day  following  restored  the  fortresses,  and  joined  the  emperor 
in  Pisa,  leaving  the  city  and  state  free,  and  the  government, 
which  he  had  held  for  a  few  days,  in  the  hands  of  those  magis 
trates  from  whom  he  received  it. 

"  In  this  manner  the  government  of  the  nine  came  to  an  end, 
who  had  governed  with  so  much  boldness  from  1283,  when  this 
form  had  its  beginning,  under  the  protection  of  the  King  of 
Naples  and  the  union  of  the  Guelph  cities  in  Tuscany,  and,  it 
must  be  owned,  aggrandized  the  republic;1  and  those  very  men 
of  the  popular  side  who  had  been  of  the  nine,  were  not  only 
deprived,  with  all  their  descendants,  of  the  capacity  of  being  in 
the  government  of  the  twelve,  but  it  was  by  a  law  enacted  that, 
in  the  volume  of  the  statutes,  the  word  nine  should  be  erased, 
and  the  word  twelve  written  in  its  place ;  in  such  abhorrence 
were  they  now  held  by  all  men."  These  decrees  of  the  new 
government,  it  is  true,  were  as  arbitrary  as  any  of  the  former; 
but  the  whole  history  of  this  republic  is  but  a  series  of  changes 
from  one  unbalanced  party  to  another.  "  The  citizens  who  had 
held  the  last  government  were  nicknamed  the  nine ;  and  this 
name  descended  by  inheritance  to  their  posterity,  and  gave  rise 
to  the  order  of  the  nine,  and  became  the  principle  of  those 
divisions,  which  went  on  increasing  among  the  people  of  this 
city,  and  became  so  sanguinary  as  to  make  them  forget  the  dis 
tinctions  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  nobles  and  populars ;  for 
after  the  government  of  the  republic  became  again  entirely  vested 
in  the  hands  of  the  populars,  and  then  again  restricted  to  a  few,  the 
desire  constantly  increased  in  the  multitude,  first  to  participate, 
then  to  monopolize  the  whole,  as  happened  in  the  creation  of  the 
twelve,  who  became  eligible  exclusively  from  the  popolo  mimito. 

1  A  Sienne,  le  gouvernement  n'etoit  plus  dans  les  mains  du  peuple ;  une  oli- 
garchie  roturiere,  sous  le  nom  d'ordre  des  neuf,  s'en  etoit  empare.  Quelques 
ainbitieux  avoient  profite  avec  artifice  du  mode  d'election  aux  magistratures,  pour 
concentrer  en  depit  des  lois  et  de  la  constitution,  1'autorite  entre  les  mains  de 
quatre-vingt-dix  citoyens.  Dans  1'interieur,  ils  se  maintenoient  centre  la  haine 
des  nobles  et  du  peuple,  par  la  corruption  et  la  brigue.  Au  deliors,  ils  esperoient 
s'agrandir  par  la  peilidie.  Sismondi,  Rupub.  Ilal.  vol.  vi.  p.  222. 


252  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  The  emperor  returned  to  Germany,  and  the  Sienese  soon 
found  their  new  system  as  defective  as  the  former.1  The  whole 
government  was  still  in  one  assembly ;  and  though  the  nobles 
were  less  than  half  of  it,  they  appeared  to  have  the  whole  power, 
as  they  always  will  when  mixed  with  the  commons.  The  noble 
men  proceeded  in  their  offices  too  arbitrarily ;  the  splendor  of 
their  birth  and  riches,  accompanied  with  the  public  authority, 
acquired  them  too  much  credit,  too  imposing  an  influence ;  and, 
in  their  usual  strain,  according  to  the  lofty  pride  of  their  natures, 
they  must  needs  govern  all  things.  In  order  to  carry  into  effect 
their  desire  to  reduce  them,  as  well  as  to  establish  their  own 
authority,  the  popular  party  would  forthwith  have  gone  to  arms, 
had  not  an  unexpected  accident  compelled  them  to  change  their 
purpose.  In  the  expulsion  of  the  nine,  the  dependencies  of  the 
state,  seeing  so  great  an  alteration  in  the  city,  and  that  those 
who  had  been  used  to  command  were  deprived  of  all  power,  and 
persecuted  with  so  much  cruelty  and  rancor  by  the  other  citizens, 
thought  that  by  such  divisions  the  public  must  be  too  much 
weakened  to  defend  the  city,  much  less  the  state.  Embracing 
this  opportunity,  Grosetto,  Massa,  Montalcino,  Monte  Pulciano, 
Casole,  and  other  lands  in  the  jurisdiction  of  Siena,  refused  obe 
dience  to  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  and  to  the  patriarch,  during 
the  few  days  that  he  held  the  sovereignty.  The  new  government, 
and  especially  the  nobles,  were  very  zealous  to  send  out  forces 
to  suppress  these  rebellions,  and  succeeded  against  Massa;  but 
the  inhabitants  of  Monte  Pulciano  attempted  to  practise  a  deceit; 
they  sent  a  false  letter  to  the  twelve,  promising  submission,  in 
order  to  amuse  them,  while  they  were  in  reality  carrying  on  their 
military  operations.  This  letter  was  delivered  to  the  twelve 
signori,  who,  without  calling  in  the  twelve  of  the  college,2  as, 
according  to  the  constitution,  they  ought  to  have  done,  opened 
and  read  it;  and  perceiving,  by  many  manifest  circumstances, 
the  imposition,  they  hanged  up  in  the  piazza  him  who  had 
brought  the  letter.  The  multitude  were  collected  together  by 
this  execution,  and  the  nobles  were  much  exasperated  that  the 

1  Ainsi,  la  revolution  avoit  change  les  personnes  qui  gouvernoient,  elle  avoit 
change  leur  nombre  et  leurs  titres ;  mais  elle  avoit  conserve  tous  les  memes  prin- 
cipes ;  et  sur  les  ruines  d'une  oligarchic  roturiere,  elle  en  avoit  eleve  une  autre 
plus  roturiere  encore.     Sismondi,  Repub.  ItaL  vol.  vi.  p.  234. 

2  The  twelve  nobles.     See,  for  the  nature  of  their  office,  p.  249. 


SIENA.  253 

letter  had  been  opened  and  such  business  done  without  their 
knowledge,  and  contrary  to  order.  The  popular  leaders  of  the 
day  took  occasion  of  this  commotion  to  accomplish  their  own 
desires ;  sallied  out  with  a  great  noise  of  arms ;  put  themselves 
at  the  head  of  the  mob ;  went  to  the  houses  of  many  noblemen 
and  of  the  nine,  with  intention  to  put  all  to  pillage,  and  force  the 
noblemen  to  renounce  the  magistracy  of  the  college ;  and  would 
have  proceeded  to  infamous  lengths,  if  the  gravest  and  most 
moderate  citizens  had  not  appeared,  and  persuaded  the  nobles 
to  obviate  all  inconveniences  by  renouncing  the  government,  in 
which  they  had  discovered  the  best  and  sincerest  intentions 
towards  their  country,  and  not  more  arbitrary  dispositions  than 
the  popular  men.  The  council  next  day  ordered  that  three 
noblemen  only,  one  for  each  third,  should  be  admitted  into  the 
government,  with  the  title  of  the  Three  Defenders ;  but  these  in 
a  few  days  were  deposed.  That  similar  tumults  might  not 
happen  every  hour,  and  throw  all  things  into  confusion,  they 
concluded  to  give  a  head  to  the  twelve  magistrates  and  the 
public  arms,  by  whose  orders  alone  the  gonfaloniers,  captains  of 
companies,  and  centurions  were  to  move.  Instead  of  a  captain 
of  the  people,  whom  they  used  to  elect  among  foreigners  every 
six  months,  they  ordained  that  some  citizen  of  Siena  should  be 
elected  every  two  months ;  that  he  should  be  of  the  popular 
party,  and  one  of  the  twelve  administrators  and  governors,  at 
whose  deliberations  he  should  be  present  as  a  member.  The 
captain  was  afterwards  commonly  elected  in  addition  to  the 
number  of  twelve.  The  government  thus  organized,  they  pro 
ceeded  against  the  rebels. 

"  Before  the  end  of  the  same  year,  1355,  the  plot  of  Gano  di 
Benedetto  Macellaro,  and  his  friends,  was  discovered.  These 
were  the  principal  heads  of  the  plebeians,  the  little  people,1  that 
very  faction  that  governed  the  city.  Considering  that,  by  the 
inconstancy  of  their  own  multitude,  it  might  happen  to  their 
government  of  twelve  as  it  had  happened  to  the  nine,  they 
determined,  for  greater  security  and  firmness  to  the  state,  to 
reduce  the  government  into  the  hands  of  one  man,  who,  from 
his  wisdom,  virtues,  and  the  public  authority,  might,  by  crushing 

1  "  11  popolo  minuto"  The  English  words  little  and  great,  constantly  used  by 
the  author,  are  not  free  from  ambiguity.  In  modern  politics,  conservative  and 
radical  come  nearest  to  the  ideas. 

VOL.    V.  22 


254  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

all  seditions,  consolidate  and  maintain  it.  Sign  or  Meio  di  M. 
Jacomo  Tolommei,  who  they  knew  had  been  always  favorable 
to  the  plebeians,  and  desirous  of  making  himself  powerful  by 
this  means  to  defend  their  liberty,  was  selected  by  them  as  the 
man  of  the  people  ;  to  him  they  communicated  their  intentions, 
and  found  him  very  well  disposed  to  conform.  Other  writers 
have  said,  that  the  first  motion  came  from  Meio,  who  persuaded 
the  heads  of  the  plebeians  to  confer  with  their  friends  ;  however 
this  might  be,  they  were  all  seen  frequently  together  in  the 
house  of  Meio,  to  consult  upon  measures  for  the  execution  of 
their  plan.  The  visits  so  often  made  by  so  many  plebeians  to 
this  house  were  observed;  and  the  twelve  magistrates  conceiving 
a  suspicion,  gave  orders  to  the  conservator,  who  had  been  in 
troduced  instead  of  the  captain  of  war  in  criminal  matters,  to 
imprison  Gano,  and  the  others,  who  were  heads  of  the  con 
spiracy.  Upon  examination  they  confessed,  that  it  was  their 
intention,  for  the  public  good,  to  take  the  government  from  the 
twelve,  and  give  it  to  Meio  Tolommei,  who  might  more  easily 
preserve  the  city  free  from  seditions  and  civil  wars.  Gano's 
head  was  struck  off;  and  the  others,  who  enjoyed  the  favor 
of  some  grandee,  a  thing  that  in  ill-constituted  cities  is  eternally 
superior  to  justice,  were  confined ;  but  Meio  and  many  others, 
who  had  fled  from  Siena,  were  declared  rebels,  and  his  palace 
was  demolished. 

"  In  the  year  1357,  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  confirmed  all  the 
privileges  of  this  popular  government,  and  made  the  magistrate 
who  governed  the  city  of  Siena  vicar  of  the  emperor. 

"  In  1362,  Giovanni  de'  Salimbeni,  upon  receiving  some  injury, 
or  at  least  taking  some  offence  at  the  government,  made  himself 
the  head  of  a  conspiracy  of  many  noblemen  and  many  of  those 
popular  men  who,  as  of  the  magistracy  of  the  nine,  had  been 
admonished,  and  rendered  incapable  of  office,  to  take  the  govern 
ment  out  of  the  hands  of  the  twelve,  and  restore  it  to  the  nine. 
But  the  secret  was  revealed  to  so  many,  that  one  at  last  in 
formed  the  government ;  the  plot  was  ordered  by  the  twelve  to 
be  inquired  into,  and  a  very  great  number  of  considerable  people 
were  seized,  some  beheaded,  others  banished,  and  others  impri 
soned;"  and  all  this  without  any  regular  process  of  law  or 
formality  of  trial. 

"  In  1363,  a  new  magistracy  was  created,  and  called  the  Regu- 


SIENA.  255 

lators,  who  had  the  care  of  revising  the  accounts  of  those  who 
had  the  management  of  the  public  money,  to  see  that  the  com 
mons  were  not  defrauded. 

"  In  1365,  fresh  quarrels  arose  between  the  Malavolti  and 
Tolommei,  and  a  plot  was  discovered  of  the  Piccolomini  against 
the  government  of  the  twelve;  and  these  families  were  subjected 
to  heavy  fines  for  their  punishment,  probably  because  the  govern 
ment  had  not  strength  to  inflict  a  severer  chastisement.  And 

o 

this  timidity  appeared  to  be  well  founded  in  another  instance 
the  same  year,  when  their  ambassadors  returned  from  Rome,  one 
of  whom,  being  attached  to  the  nobles,  had  given  offence  to  the 
twelve,  by  speaking  freely  against  them  in  his  absence  ;  he  was 
cast  into  prison ;  but  the  government  were  not  able  to  punish 
him  with  death  as  they  intended,  for  the  noblemen  appeared  in 
arms  to  defend  him." 

These  instances,  with  many  others,  show,  that  however  arbi 
trarily  or  severely  the  nobles  and  most  revered  families  are 
excluded,  they  will  ever  have  a  controlling  influence  over  the 
government,  when  in  one  assembly  of  commons  only,  sometimes 
by  secret  practices,  at  others  by  open  force.  Indeed,  such  fa 
milies  are  always  in  reality  the  heads  of  the  factions  that  tear 
the  state,  though,  in  appearance,  they  have  no  share  in  it,  as 
was  seen  more  plainly  the  next  year,  when  those  twelve  who 
had  the  government  in  their  hands  were  afflicted  beyond  measure 
with  fears  of  new  animosities  and  insurrections  against  them. 

"  They  found  themselves  divided  into  two  factions,  one  called 
the  Caneschi,  and  the  other  Grasselli,  the  former  the  favorites 
of  the  Salimbeni,  and  the  other  of  the  Tolommei.  Knowing  that 
the  nobility  were  irritated  by  the  late  imprisonment  of  their 
friend  the  ambassador,  and  by  the  design  which  the  twelve  had 
discovered,  by  means  of  false  testimony,  to  take  his  life  and 
confiscate  his  estate,  if  he  had  not  been  defended  by  the  nobles, 
they  looked  out  for  foreign  aid,  and  sent  to  the  pope  to  obtain 
it ;  they  sent  also  ambassadors,  some  noble  and  some  popular, 
to  the  emperor,  to  sound  his  disposition  towards  the  republic. 
Among  these  was  John  Salimbeni,  a  man  of  prudence,  very 
useful  to  the  state,  and  in  high  reputation  abroad.  His  death 
at  this  time  was  a  public  calamity ;  for  the  twelve,  dreading  the 
union  of  the  noble  houses,  artfully  introduced  and  excited 
among  them  every  provocation  to  arms,  to  keep  them  divided, 


256  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

and  excite  one  family  against  another.  The  nobles,  at  last  per 
ceiving  the  malicious  artifice,  secretly  united  among  themselves, 
and,  simulating  a  greater  hatred  to  one  another  than  ever,  on 
the  second  of  September,  1368,  they,  with  their  friends  and 
adherents,  armed  themselves  as  if  they  intended  to  come  to  a 
decisive  battle  against  each  other.  They  then  with  one  impulse 
turned  their  arms  against  the  magistracy  of  the  twelve,  drove 
them  out  of  the  palace,  taking  possession  of  the  arms,  and, 
without  putting  any  to  death,  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
city  and  the  state. 

"  At  once  they  new-modelled  the  government,  ordaining  a 
magistracy  of  ten  noblemen,  and  three  of  those  popular  men 
who  had  been  of  the  nine ;  took  possession  of  the  fortresses,  and 
sent  ambassadors  to  the  emperor  to  obtain  his  confirmation  of 
their  new  authority ;  but  they  found  that  ambassadors  from  the 
twelve  and  those  plebeians  who  still  adhered  to  them,  had 
arrived  before  them,  to  solicit  Charles's  aid  to  recover  their 
power ;  and  had  filled  the  court  with  slanders  to  such  a  degree 
as  to  move  the  emperor's  compassion  in  their  own  favor,  and 
his  indignation  against  their  antagonists.  He  therefore  amused 
the  ambassadors  of  the  latter  with  false  promises,  while  he  sent 
Malatesta  di  Rimini  to  reinstate  the  former;  a  design  in  which, 
by  the  treachery  and  ambition  of  the  Salimberii,  he  succeeded. 
As  soon  as  it  was  known  in  Siena  that  Malatesta,  with  his 
forces,  was  approaching  in  the  neighborhood,  the  little  people, 
in  the  interest  of  the  twelve,  arose  suddenly  and  tumultuously 
in  arms,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Salimbeni,  forced  open 
the  gates  to  admit  the  imperial  army,  not  without  an  obstinate 
battle,  however,  which  continued  the  whole  day,  (September 
24,  1368,)  and  great  slaughter. 

"  The  government  was  thus  again  taken  from  the  nobles,  their 
houses  plundered,  and  themselves  driven  out  of  the  city  to  their 
castles  in  the  country.  The  multitude  of  plebeians  having  tasted 
the  sweets  of  public  honors,  power,  and  riches,  combated  fu 
riously  upon  this  occasion ;  and  having,  by  the  aid  of  Malatesta 
and  the  Salimbeni,  been  victorious,  they  reformed  the  system. 
Excluding  the  nobles,  they  instituted  a  council  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  popular  men,  whom  they  called  The  Council  of 
Reformers,  because  to  them  was  given  authority  to  reform  the 
constitution.  Sixty-one  of  these  were  of  the  plebeians,  or  little 


SIENA.  257 

people ;  thirty-five  of  those  popular  men  who  had  been  in  the 
office  of  the  twelve,  and  twenty-eight  of  those  who  had  been  in 
the  office  of  the  nine,  or  of  their  descendants  or  associates.  These 
governed  with  the  participation  of  Malatesta,  who  was  in  Siena 
the  lieutenant  or  vicar  of  the  emperor  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
nobles.  This  party  having  held  the  government  of  the  state  and 
inhabited  the  palace  of  the  signori  twenty-two  days,  reorganized 
the  magistracy  of  the  twelve,  adding  five  of  the  little  people, 
and  four  of  the  twelve,  to  three  of  the  nine,  who  had  been  in  the 
magistracy  of  the  consuls  together  with  ten  gentlemen ;  and  de 
termined  that  these  should  be  called  The  Twelve  Lords  Defend 
ers  of  the  People  of  Siena.  They  made  a  new  box  of  magis 
trates,  in  which  they  put  fifty-one  ballots,  in  each  of  which  was 
contained  a  magistracy  of  twelve  citizens,  with  the  distribution 
before  mentioned  of  five,  four,  and  three."  By  this  we  see  that 
a  complete  aristocracy  was  established,  and  a  very  narrow  one 
too,  such  as  may  well  be  called  an  oligarchy,  by  this  faction  of 
the  little  people,  or  plebeians.  The  choice  of  magistrates  was 
confined  to  fifty  persons  only.  "  They  created  also  a  general 
council  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  popular  men,  preserving  the 
same  proportion  of  five,  four,  and  three,  to  continue  till  January 
next.  To  this  council  they  joined  another,  called  The  Council 
of  the  Companies,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  forty ; 
and  this  is  the  first  time  that  in  the  public  books  was  written 
and  preserved  the  memory  of  the  divisions  among  the  people  ; 
and  thus,  by  creating  magistrates  expressly  and  avowedly  by 
distributions  of  factions,  of  orders,  and  of  mountains,  as  they 
did  afterwards,  they  made  their  discords  immortal.  Animosities, 
kept  alive  by  these  records,  not  only  cost  the  lives  of  an  infinite 
number  of  individuals  in  the  frequent  and  bloody  innovations 
which  followed,  but  finally  proved  the  destruction  of  the  whole 
commonwealth,  and  the  establishment  of  the  domination  of  one 
man." 

So  says  the  historian;  but  whether  these  records  had  existed 
or  not,  the  calamities,  and  the  issue  of  them,  would  have  been 
the  same,  provided  they  had  not  changed  their  government  from 
one  assembly  to  two,  and  separated  the  executive  authority  from 
both.  Scrambling  for  loaves  and  fishes,  in  an  assembly  of  peo 
ple,  or  representatives,  or  nobles,  or  in  a  mixture  or  union  of 
both,  will  forever  have  the  same  effects. 

22*  Q 


258  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  These  reformers  annulled  all  the  deliberations  and  decrees 
made  by  the  late  magistracy  of  the  nobles,  except  those  which 
contained  the  liberation  of  the  banished  and  condemned.  Wish 
ing  to  reward  the  noble  house  of  Salimbeni  for  the  benefit 
received  from  them,  they  gave  them,  in  honor  and  recompense 
of  their  perfidy  against  the  other  nobles,  five  castles ;  and  more 
over,  with  privileges  proportioned  to  their  merit,  they  made 
them  popular  citizens,  that  they  might  be  capable  of  being  in 
the  magistracy.  The  Salimbeni  were  the  first  who  followed  the 
example  of  Manlius,  the  first  of  the  Romans,  who  from  a  patri 
cian  made  himself  a  plebeian,  and  from  a  similar  caprice,  re 
nounced  his  nobility,  that  by  the  aid  of  the  plebeians  he  might 
make  himself  master  of  the  liberties  of  his  country." 

So  says  the  historian  ;  and  it  is  true  there  is  a  remarkable 
resemblance  between  the  rivalry  of  Manlius  and  Camillus,  and 
that  of  the  Salimbeni  and  Tolommei ;  and  both  examples  are 
equally  demonstrative  of  the  dangers  and  evils  of  a  sovereignty 
in  one  assembly.  There  will  ever  be  two  rival  families  to  tear 
the  vitals  of  the  state,  and  one  or  the  other,  perhaps  both,  will 
sacrifice  truth,  right,  honor,  and  liberty,  to  obtain  the  ascendency. 

"  The  nobles,  now  chased  from  the  city,  met  at  Cerreto  Ciam- 
poli,  to  consult  what  they  ought  to  do  to  regain  their  situations 
in  the  city.  The  magistrates  of  the  twelve  having  intelligence 
of  this  assembly,  declared  six  noblemen  of  the  house  of  Cerre- 
tani  rebels,  which  obliged  them,  with  the  others,  to  look  out  for 
some  strong  place  to  make  the  seat  of  war.  As  they  were  to 
be  treated  as  enemies,  one  part  of  the  Tolommei  took  possession 
of  the  castle  of  Monti eri,  another  that  of  Traguanda  ;  the  Mala- 
volti  occupied  Castiglione,  the  Piccolomini  Batlgnano,  and 
others,  other  castles,  from  whence  they  began  to  make  war  upon 
all  the  country  of  Siena,  to  intercept  the  supplies  of  provisions, 
to  demolish  the  mills,  and  to  carry  their  depredations  to  the  very 
walls,  holding  the  people  in  continual  alarm  and  terror,  and  the 
city  in  a  manner  besieged,  so  that  few  had  the  courage  to  go  in 
or  out.  The  twelve  defenders,  in  order  to  disunite  the  nobles, 
pardoned  all  the  others,  and  banished  only  the  Tolommei,  Mala- 
volti,  Piccolomini,  Cerretani,  Saraceni,  and  Forteguerri,  to  the 
distance  of  twenty  miles  in  the  country,  in  lands  subject  to  the 
emperor,  upon  penalty  of  life  and  fortune  for  disobedience.  This 
proclamation  was  not  obeyed,  and  an  army  was  sent,  under  corn- 


SIENA.  259 

mand  of  the  podesta  Simone  da  Spoleto,  selected  by  Malatesta, 
to  recover  from  the  noblemen  the  lands  they  held  of  the  com 
mons  of  Siena  ;  but  they  returned  without  success,  to  wait  a 
better  opportunity. 

"  It  appeared  by  this  time  to  the  order  of  the  twelve,  that  they 
had  been  immense  losers  by  the  change  of  government;  for 
whereas,  prior  to  their  deprivation  through  the  nobles,  they  had 
enjoyed  it  all,  sharing  with  no  one,  at  present  they  only  shared 
a  third  part ;  and  being  stimulated  by  ambition,  which  oftener 
measures  things  by  its  will  than  its  prudence,  they  did  not 
consider  those  dangers  concealed  under  their  immoderate  desires. 
They  persuaded  the  little  people,  that  by  joining  with  them  they 
could  easily  exclude  by  force  the  order  of  the  nine  from  the 
regency.  The  people,  joining  them  in  arms,  soon  put  the  plot 
in  execution ;  but  these,  finding  success  so  easy,  were  incited, 
before  laying  down  the  arms  in  their  hands,  in  their  turn  to 
think  more  of  their  own  convenience,  profit,  pleasure,  and  utility, 
than  of  their  honor,  integrity,  or  the  public  good,  so  that  with 
out  ceremony,  they  deprived  the  twelve  of  their  share  in  admin 
istration  ;  and  burning  the  gate  of  the  palace,  and  the  major 
part  of  the  public  books,  with  a  great  noise,  and  universal  con 
vulsion  of  the  city,  they  dragged  out  of  the  palace  the  three  of 
the  nine,  and  the  four  of  the  twelve,  who  occupied  the  office 
of  the  lords  defenders  of  the  people  of  Siena. 

"  To  avoid  more  scandalous  excesses,  and  to  put  an  end  to 
the  tumult  of  the  people,  who  would  not  be  satisfied  nor  quieted 
without  a  new  order  to  reform  the  government  of  the  city,  by 
transferring  it  to  the  little  people,  or  (to  distinguish  them  more 
clearly  from  those  other  popular  men  who  had  been  of  the  party 
of  the  nine  and  of  the  party  of  the  twelve)  to  those  who  were 
truly  the  plebeians  and  altogether  new  men,  because  (as  the 
plebeians  said  in  Rome,  when,  in  high  wrath  against  the  nobles, 
they  created  Terentius  Varro  consul)  those  plebeians,  who  had 
already  been  ennobled  by  serving  in  the  government,  despised 
the  lower  plebeians  (la  plebe  basso)  more,  and  showed  themselves 
more  inimical  to  them,  than  the  ancient  nobility,  Malatesta  en 
tered  the  palace,  and  selected  eighteen  of  the  little  people,  who, 
together  with  the  five  of  the  same  sort  who  remained  in  the 
palace  of  the  twelve  defenders,  and  three  gonfaloniers  of  the 
thirds  of  the  city,  and  four  of  the  house  of  Salimbeni,  were  to 


260  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

reform  anew  the  government  of  the  republic.  These,  meeting, 
without  loss  of  time,  in  the  consistory,  which  is  the  apartment 
where  the  signori  usually  assembled,  with  Malatesta,  adopting 
the  advice  of  M.  Reame  di  M.  Notto  Salimbeni,  made  an  elec 
tion  of  ten  of  the  little  people,  who,  with  the  five  who  had 
remained  in  the  palace,  were  to  exercise  the  office,  now  aug 
mented  from  twelve  to  fifteen,  of  defenders  of  the  people  of 
Siena,  until  the  beginning  of  January  next,  with  the  same 
authority  those  had  had  who  exercised  the  office  of  the  twelve 
governors  and  administrators  of  the  republic  of  Siena  before  the 
second  day  of  September  last.  Thus  the  new  magistrates  were 
all  made  of  popular  men,  who  had  not  been  of  the  nine,  or  of  the 
twelve ;  and  to  the  eighteen  reformers,  and  the  others  ordered  by 
Malatesta,  they  added  a  certain  number,  by  the  distribution  of 
the  companies,  who,  with  the  fifteen  lords  defenders,  made  the 
number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  reformers,  all  of  the  lesser 
people,  who,  with  ample  authority  given  them  by  Malatesta,  as 
imperial  vicar,  were  to  reform  the  government. 

"  The  twelve  now  perceiving  their  error,  and  that,  by  attempting 
to  usurp  power  from  others,  they  had  lost  their  own,  sent,  with  the 
privity  of  the  Salimbeni,  to  negotiate  with  the  emperor  yet  remain 
ing  at  Rome,  to  the  end  that,  when  passing  on  his  return  through 
Siena,  he  might  effect  their  restoration  to  their  former  state.  The 
popular  men  of  the  greater  number,  still  denominated  in  the  pub 
lic  books  The  Little  People,  having  information  of  that  effort  of 
the  twelve,  and  considering  that,  if  the  twelve  should  unite  with 
the  nobles  and  the  nine,  and  be  assisted  by  the  arms  of  Charles, 
they  might  easily  make  themselves  masters  of  the  city,  and 
seize  the  government,  thought  it  more  prudent  to  yield  a  part 
by  consent,  than  run  the  risk  of  losing  the  whole  by  force. 
Moved  by  this  consideration,  (such  is  the  inconstancy  of  the 
multitude!)  the  reformers  ordained  that  the  party  which  had 
been  dragged  from  the  palace  should  return,  and  occupy  their 
offices  with  the  fifteen  defenders  till  the  first  of  January,  at 
which  time  they  were  to  join  in  the  ballot,  and  draw,  from  the 
boxes  already  made  by  the  other  reformers,  three  popular  men, 
of  whom  the  one  who  should  have  the  most  votes  in  the  council 
of  the  reformers  was  to  be  captain  of  the  people.  This  person 
proved  to  be  Matteino  di  Ser  Ventura  Menzani,  so  that  the 
magistracy  consisted  of  the  number  of  fifteen,  of  whom  eight 


SIENA.  261 

were  of  the  little  people,  four  of  the  twelve,  and  three  of  the 
nine.  They  declared,  moreover,  that  the  gonfaloniers  of  the 
thirds  of  the  city,  different  from  the  gonfaloniers  of  the  com 
panies  whom  they  were  to  command,  should  be  called  Master 
Gonfaloniers,  and  should  always  be  of  the  little  people,  like  the 
captain  of  the  people ;  and  the  three  counsellors  of  the  same 
captain  should  be  taken,  one  from  each  sort  of  people.  This 
captain,  with  his  counsellors  and  master  gonfaloniers,  had  full 
authority  in  fact,  though  not  according  to  the  orders  in  the 
statutes,  and  a  discretionary  power  in  all  criminal  cases,  but  not 
in  civil.  From  this  reform,  the  order  of  Reformers  had  its  first 
original ;  for  this  name  of  reformers  remained  afterwards  in 
those  popular  men  who  were  of  the  council  of  the  last  reformers, 
and  descended  to  their  posterity,  as  it  happened  before  to  the 
nine  and  the  twelve,  all  of  whom  had  their  origin  from  the 
people.  This  tripartite  division  appeared  to  the  reformers  to  be 
a  most  powerful  cause  of  divisions  and  discords,  which  they 
wished  to  prevent;  therefore  they  ordered  these  distinctions  to 
be  annulled,  and  the  whole  people  to  be  united  in  one  body, 
and,  when  in  any  writing  there  should  be  occasion  to  mention 
the  little  people,  it  should  be  called  the  people  of  the  greater 
number;  that  the  party  of  the  twelve  should  be  called  the  people 
of  the  middle  number;  and  the  nine,  the  people  of  the  lesser 
number ;  *  but  although  the  names  of  the  factions  were  changed, 
the  substance  of  things  was  not  united." 

As  these  distinctions  arise  from  that  constitution  of  human 
nature,  and  course  of  its  passions,  which  legislation  is  not  yet 
perfect  enough  to  alter  or  to  remedy,  but  by  making  the  distinc 
tions  themselves  legal,  and  assigning  to  each  its  share,  whatever 
it  may  be  hereafter,  the  same  discords  remained  among  the 
popular  men,  and  preserved  always  the  same  distinctions  in  the 
public  books. 

*  This  record  is  very  curious,  and  worth  inserting.  "  Item  considerantes,  dicti 
providentes,  quod  ex  divisione  populi,  civitates  destruuntur,  et  annihilantur,  et 
magnam  divisionem  praebet  ordo,  factus  per  alios  refbrmatores,  quo  cavetur,  quod 
offieiales  eligantur  per  quinque  de  populo  parvo,  quatuor  de  gente  duodecim,  et 
tres  de  gente  novem,  eoque  ubi  debet  populus  ease  unitus,  sit  tripartitus,  et 
ideo  provideietur,  quod  dictum  capitulum  et  ordinamentum  sit  cassum,  et  sit 
totus  populus  Senensis  unicus,  et  unum  corpus  censeatur,  et,  siquando  in  aliqua 
scriptura  esset  mentio  facienda  de  populo  parvo,  dicatur  de  populo  majoris 
numeri,  et  si  de  gente  duodecim  esset  facienda  mentio,  dicatur  de  populo  medio- 
cris  numeri,  et  si  de  gente  novem,  dicatur  de  populo  minoris  numeri." 


262  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  They  ordained  further,  that  of  the  officers  of  merchandise,  or 
chamber  of  commerce,  there  should  be  two  of  the  people  of  the 
greater  number,  one  of  those  of  the  middle  number,  and  the  other 
of  the  lesser  number,  while  the  nobles  should  remain  out  of  the 
city ;  but  in  case  they  should  return,  instead  of  one  of  the  two 
of  the  greater  number,  a  nobleman  should  be  elected ;  and  this 
rule  they  followed  in  after  times,  electing  one  nobleman  and 
three  popular  men  ;  and  by  this  order  it  became  a  declared  point, 
that  the  nobles  were  not  comprehended  in  the  people,  but  were 
distinct  from  them.  They  further  ordained  (correcting  the  order 
given  concerning  the  mode  of  electing  the  three  popular  mem 
bers,  who  were  to  be  joined  to  the  twelve  of  the  ballot  to  be 
drawn  every  two  months,  to  make  the  number  of  fifteen  defend 
ers)  that  a  hundred  for  each  third  should  be  put  into  the  boxes 
by  the  council  of  reformers,  and  that,  in  drawing  for  magistrates, 
eight  should  be  drawn  for  each  third ;  and  they  made  many  other 
provisions  to  consolidate,  as  they  said,  the  popular  state,  which 
were  very  displeasing  to  the  twelve,  who  could  not  endure  that 
the  nine  should  be  restored,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  govern 
ment  should  be  taken  out  of  their  hands.  They  could  not  sit 
easy  under  this  mortification,  but,  with  the  favor  of  the  Salim- 
beni,  they  frequently  stirred  up  fresh  tumults,  which  Malatesta 
with  his  soldiers  had  trouble  enough  to  suppress.  The  twelve, 
with  the  Salimbeni  at  their  head,  still  restless,  applied  to  the 
emperor,  and  made  him  great  offers  to  assist  them  in  new-model 
ling  the  government.  The  emperor  would  not  agree  without  the 
consent  of  the  senate  or  general  council,  which  was  sometimes 
upon  great  occasions  called  together.  Being  assembled  at  this 
time  to  the  number  of  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  they  refused 
their  consent ;  but,  by  a  vote  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty-one, 
confirmed  the  present  form,  imposing  grievous  penalties  upon  all 
such  as  should  speak  or  act  any  thing  against  it,  or  attempt  any 
alteration  in  it. 

"  The  twelve,  perceiving  that  they  could  not  succeed  in  this 
way  to  obtain  their  unconquerable  desire  of  mastering  the  govern 
ment,  deliberated  upon  the  means  of  securing  by  arms  what  by 
intrigue  and  fraud  they  had  not  been  able  to  acquire ;  they  flat 
tered  themselves  that,  by  the  interest  of  the  family  of  Salimbeni, 
they  could  procure  the  aid  of  Caesar's  arms.  While,  through 
the  discord  thus  excited,  the  public  in  Siena  remained  in  this 


SIENA.  263 

fluctuating  state,  the  nobles  in  exile  made  frequent  inroads  into 
its  territory  with  their  cavalry,  plundering  and  burning  at  their 
pleasure,  and  holding  the  city  in  a  manner  besieged.  The  em 
peror,  taking  advantage  of  this,  labored  with  both  parties  to  lay 
aside  their  animosities.  A  truce  was  agreed  on,  and  arbitrators 
or  mediators  to  settle  the  pretensions  of  all  parties.  The  me 
diators  assembled  in  a  church,  but  the  twelve  and  the  Salimbeni 
studied  to  prevent  their  determination.  The  people  and  the  nine 
were  willing  the  nobles  should  return.  The  twelve  and  the 
Salimbeni  persuaded  the  emperor  to  negotiate  with  the  pope  to 
send  a  legate,  because,  seeing  the  people  and  the  nine  concur  in 
the  return  of  the  nobility,  it  appeared  to  them  they  should  be  too 
inferior  in  force  and  influence  to  their  enemies  without  the  aid 
of  foreign  arms. 

"  Parties  remaining  in  suspense  and  suspicion  of  one  another, 
neither  dared  to  lay  down  their  arms.  At  last  it  appeared  to  the 
twelve  that,  by  favor  of  the  imperialists  and  the  pope's  legate, 
they  had  acquired  enough  to  be  superior,  and,  not  willing  to  lose 
the  opportunity,  they  made  Niccolo  Salimbeni  their  head ;  and 
with  many  foreign  troops  they  began  the  uproar,  with  a  great 
show  and  noise  of  arms,  crying,  Down  with  the  traitors  of  the 
nine,  who  wish  to  restore  the  nobles  !  They  ran  through  the  third 
of  the  city,  and  having  met  Scotto  di  Minuccio,  who  was  captain 
of  his  company,  they  killed  him,  because  he  had  given  his  opinion 
for  confirming  the  boxes  of  ballots  and  the  government;  and  pro 
ceeded  to  the  houses  of  several  families  of  the  nine  to  assassinate 
them.  Not  finding  them,  because  they  had  fled  for  safety,  the 
twelve,  with  their  mob,  ran  through  the  whole  city,  plundered 
the  houses  of  the  nine,  and  then  marched  to  the  palace ;  with 
the  connivance  of  Malatesta,  who  appeared  in  the  piazza  with 
his  armed  men,  they  drove  out  the  three  of  the  nine  who  were 
of  the  fifteen  lords  defenders ;  and,  aspiring  at  a  complete  victory, 
they  made  the  emperor  move  from  the  house  of  Salimbeni,  where 
he  was  lodged,  by  giving  him  hopes  that,  if  he  went  in  person  to 
the  palace,  he  would  have  the  city  at  his  devotion.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  remaining  magistrates,  seeing  three  of  their  colleagues 
dragged  out  of  the  palace,  excited  to  indignation  at  the  insult, 
and  at  the  danger  they  were  in  of  losing  the  government,  sud 
denly  caused  the  bell  to  be  rung,  sounding  to  arms  ;  and  so  great 
a  multitude  of  people  assembled  in  arms  in  the  piazza,  and  in 


264  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

such  a  fury,  that  the  captain  of  the  people,  taking  courage  to 
turn  with  his  colleagues  upon  the  twelve,  the  Salimbeni  and 
podesta,  drove  them  out  of  the  palace. 

"The  battles  which  ensued  in  the  city  were  obstinate  and 
bloody ;  splendid  feats  of  valor  were  displayed  on  all  sides ;  but 
they  are  unnecessary  to  be  related.  The  government  was  finally 
triumphant ;  at  least  their  military  commander  had  all  the  power 
of  a  dictator.  Negotiations  were  soon  opened  between  the  prin 
cipal  men  and  the  emperor;  and  it  was  concluded  that  the  same 
government  should  stand,  under  the  emperor  as  its  sovereign 
lord,  and  the  city  should  be  considered  as  a  vicarage  of  the  holy 
empire.  But  of  what  avail  are  treaties,  or  decrees,  or  agreements, 
when  the  government  remains  in  one  assembly  ?  The  emperor 
was  scarcely  gone  out  of  the  city,  before  fresh  plots  and  treasons 
of  the  twelve  and  the  Salimbeni  were  discovered,  and  new 
tumults  against  the  nine.  The  lords  defenders,  together  with 
the  council  of  reformers,  to  put  a  stop  to  these  disorders,  were 
obliged  to  create  a  new  office,  which  they  called  the  Executor ; 
and  they  gave  him  great  authority  in  criminal  matters,  even  to 
proceed  discretionally,  and  without  observing  the  orders  of  the 
statutes.  But  with  all  this  there  was  no  security  in  town  or 
country;  and  justice  was  so  corrupted,  that  an  infinite  number 
of  assassinations  and  robberies  were  committed  with  impunity. 

"  Certain  travellers  at  last  were  robbed  and  murdered  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  castle  of  Monteriggioni ;  and  several  men 
from  the  castle  ran  out  with  their  arms,  took  four  of  the  men 
who  had  committed  the  robbery,  and,  without  sending  them  to 
the  city,  or  waiting  for  any  trial,  hanged  them  on  the  spot ;  and 
as  this  example  was  followed  by  the  people  in  the  country,  the 
roads  began  to  be  more  secure ;  but  in  the  city  the  insurrections 
still  continued.  The  executor  having  caused  all  the  popular  men 
who  had  not  been  banished  or  declared  rebels  to  return  into  the 
city,  it  happened  that  one  Niccolo  di  Guelfo,  of  the  order  of  the 
nine,  killed  Paolo  di  Legacci,  and  wounded  two  others  of  the 
order  of  the  twelve,  who,  happening  to  be  present,  attempted  to 
defend  him.  At  the  rumor  of  this,  a  great  disturbance  arose,  and 
numbers  of  people  collected  and  fell  into  skirmishes,  in  which 
many  were  killed.  To  quiet  this  commotion,  the  lords  defenders 
placed  guards  of  soldiers  in  the  palace,  in  the  piazza,  at  the  gates, 
and  many  other  places,  confined  eight  of  the  principals  of  the 


SIENA.  265 

order  of  the  nine,  and  sixteen  of  the  order  of  the  twelve ;  and 
the  delinquents  having  fled,  the  tumult  subsided.  Propositions 
of  an  accommodation  between  the  nobles  and  populars  had  been 
made  by  the  mediation  of  the  Marquis  of  Monferrato ;  but,  as 
little  progress  was  made  in  it,  and  the  nobles  were  impatient, 
they  took  the  castle  of  Batignano,  and  approached  to  Monte 
Pulciano,  with  the  exiles  from  that  territory,"  (for  every  village 
had  its  disputes  between  the  great  and  the  little,  and  its  revolu 
tions,  triumphs,  and  banishments,)  "who  had  intelligence  with 
the  popular  party  within,  by  whose  aid  they  entered,  and  made 
prisoner  of  Jacomo  de'  Cavalieri,  who  had  made  himself  lord 
of  the  place.  Intending  to  save  his  life,  they  threw  him  into 
prison ;  but  the  plebeians,  not  satisfied  with  deposing  him  and 
plundering  his  property,  and  in  order  to  satiate  their  revenge  for 
the  injuries  they  thought  they  had  received  from  him,  went  the 
next  day  to  the  prison,  and,  breaking  it  open,  cut  him  to  bits ; 
and  every  one  took  a  piece,  as  is  customary  with  meat  at  market. 
The  nobles  were  so  enraged  with  the  people  for  this,  that  they 
fell  upon  them,  killed  many,  and  drove  others  off  the  territory. 
When  they  had  done  this,  they  set  up  another  government,  and 
that  a  popular  one,"  (which  is  remarkable  enough,)  "  and  de 
parted. 

"  The  Marquis  of  Monferrato,  who  had  undertaken  the  media 
tion  at  the  request  of  both  parties,  but  saw  that  all  his  pains  to 
restore  harmony  between  the  nobles  and  populars  would  be  in 
vain,  departed  from  Siena  and  went  to  Florence,  whence  he 
communicated  his  award  to  Malavolti,  who  represented  the 
nobles,  and  to  Guerrieri,  who  was  ambassador  for  the  popular 
men  who  governed  the  city.  The  decree,  however,  as  he  had 
foreseen,  was  accepted  by  neither  party.  One  article  was,  that 
the  Salimbeni  should  release  to  the  republic  the  castles  which 
had  been  given  them ;  and  that  they  should  no  longer  keep  the 
standard  with  the  arms  of  the  people,  nor  the  infantry,  which  the 
magistrates  had  given  them  for  the  guard  of  their  persons.  By 
reason  of  this,  a  part  of  the  people,  who  followed  the  faction  of 
the  twelve,  made  a  tumult,  declaring  that  they  would  not  degrade 
the  honor  nor  lessen  the  grandeur  of  the  Salimbeni ;  and  several 
persons  of  consequence  were  killed  in  this  riot.  At  this  time  the 
castle  and  land  of  Pian  Castagnaio  was  taken  by  the  Count  di 
Nola,  captain  of  some  men  of  the  church ;  and  it  was  said  that 
VOL.  v.  23 


266  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  Salimbeni,  contrary  to  their  compact  with  the  commons  of 
Siena,  when  it  was  given  to  them,  had  sold  it.  This  report 
produced  tokens  of  great  dissatisfaction  among  the  citizens  in 
general,  and  especially  when  the  same  count,  within  a  few  days, 
reduced  the  lands  of  San  Salvadore  to  his  obedience,  and  held  it 
as  if  he  had  been  its  sovereign.  Moved  at  this  loss,  the  fifteen 
lords  defenders  sent  an  ample  force  and  recovered  it.  It  now 
appeared  to  the  Salimbeni  that  the  popular  men,  by  the  loss  of 
Pian  Castagnaio,  were  disgusted  with  them,  and  had  not  the 
same  confidence  and  affection  for  them  as  they  usually  had  before 
this  accident  happened ;  wherefore,  considering  what  might  occur, 
being  enemies  of  the  other  nobles,  and  not  very  acceptable  to  the 
popular  men,  they  solicited  the  Florentine  ambassadors,  who 
were  in  Siena,  to  treat  of  peace  between  the  nobles  and  those 
who  governed  the  state,  and  of  a  reconciliation  between  them 
and  the  other  nobles;  and  in  a  short  time  both  points  were 
accomplished,  with  little  satisfaction,  however,  to  those  who 
governed  the  state,  though  in  appearance  they  pretended  the 
contrary. 

"While  the  Florentines  were  treating  of  a  peace  between  the 
nobles  and  commons  of  Siena,  Odoardo  di  Mariscotti,  thinking 
the  proceedings  too  slow,  and  desirous  to  hasten  them,  began, 
from  a  castle  of  his,  to  infest  the  roads  with  his  highwaymen, 
robbing  and  assassinating  the  merchants  and  others  who  tra 
velled  that  way,  which  incited  the  magistrates  to  send  out  an 
army,  and  take  and  demolish  his  castle,  destroying  many  of  his 
people,  and  bringing  him  prisoner  to  Siena.  The  same  army, 
the  day  after,  marched  to  Campriano,  where  they  subdued 
another  band  of  the  nobles,  employed  in  intercepting  provisions 
in  their  way  to  Siena.  Campriano  they  took  by  assault:  and 
destroyed  the  fortress,  after  having  slain  in  the  action  three  of 
the  house  of  Tolommei,  three  of  the  Piccolomini,  two  of  the 
Scotti,  and  one  of  the  Mariscotti,  with  many  others.  The  castle 
of  Cotone  was  obliged  to  capitulate ;  Castiglione  fought  nine 
hours  incessantly,  and  in  the  battle  lost  some  of  the  Tolommei, 
and  some  of  the  Malavolti,  and  many  others  of  the  nobles ;  but 
the  place  was  taken,  plundered,  and  burnt ;  after  which  the  army 
returned  to  Siena  with  a  great  number  of  prisoners.  There  did 
not  remain  many  of  the  nobles  united  together,  capable  of  doing 
much  damage  to  the  dominions  of  the  republic. 


SIENA.  267 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  popular  men,  the  more  to  consolidate 
their  power,  having  seen  the  unanimity  of  the  nobles  through  the 
order  of  the  last  reformers,  erected  a  company,  whom  they  called 
the  Grand  Family  of  the  People,  which  should  endure  to  perpe 
tuity  among  those  popular  men  who  should  be  elected  by  the 
reformers  for  the  conservation  of  the  popular  state  of  the  city, 
and  of  the  company  itself,  into  which  no  nobleman  could  be 
received.  Every  member  was  to  take  an  oath  to  observe  the 
rules  ordained  for  the  maintenance  of  both  the  state  and  the 
society;  and  many  exemptions  and  immunities  were  granted 
them.  Every  one  whose  name  was  subscribed  to  the  associa 
tion,  was  to  hold  the  arms  of  the  people  painted  upon  some 
conspicuous  place  of  his  house;  from  which  institution,  the 
white  lion  is  seen  at  this  day,  over  the  doors  of  many  houses. 
They  had  also  the  privilege  of  bearing  the  white  lion  in  their 
own  proper  arms,  and  many  persons  availed  themselves  of  it,  as 
is  seen  in  the  arms  of  many  families  still  remaining.  All  who 
were  not  of  the  association  of  the  people  were  forbid  to  bear  it 
in  any  manner.  These  and  other  regulations  being  made,  desir 
ous  of  preventing  the  incursions,  and  repairing  the  damages 
done  by  the  nobles  in  the  country,  they  collected  a  numerous 
force,  went  to  their  castles,  and  seized  sometimes  upon  one  and 
sometimes  upon  another,  not  meeting  any  power  that  could 
resist  them,  till  the  republic  of  Florence,  to  whom,  on  the  thir 
teenth  of  May,  1369,  the  difference  between  the  people  and  the 
nobles  had  been  referred,  made  their  report,  to  the  great  satisfac 
tion  of  both  parties. 

"  This  award  was  dated  the  last  of  June,  1369,  and,  among 
the  other  articles  of  the  peace,  the  nobles  were  to  be  restored  to 
their  country,  and  be  made  capable  of  all  the  magistracies  of 
the  commonwealth,  except  those  of  lords  defenders,  gonfaloniers, 
and  counsellors ;  and  this  was  ratified  by  the  popular  men  in  a 
general  council.  The  nobles  in  ten  days  ratified  it  on  their  part, 
to  the  wonderful  satisfaction  of  the  city  and  the  state,  as  they 
hoped  to  put  an  end  to  so  many  miseries.  The  reformers  after 
wards,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  peace,  as  they  said,  ordained 
grievous  penalties  for  any  one  of  the  nobles  who  should  offend 
any  of  the  people,  and  it  was  made  capital  to  strike  or  draw 
blood  from  any  one  of  the  council  of  reformers ;  and  to  show 
that  affairs  which  interest  many  ought  to  be  made  known  to 


268  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

and  managed  by  many,  wishing  to  increase  the  number  of  that 
council,  which  was  not  at  that  time  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  on  the  twenty-second  of  August,  1369,  they  added  to  it 
those  of  the  little  people,  who  had  been  of  the  first  reformers 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  nobles,  and  those  of  the  same  people 
who  had  been  of  the  lords  defenders  since  January,  1368,  or 
should  be  in  future,  and  the  master  gonfaloniers  whilst  this  box 
lasted  ;  and  wishing  to  reform  the  council  of  the  people,  it  was 
ordained  by  the  general  council,  that  all  the  people,  of  whatever 
number,  who  shall  have  been  of  the  lords  defenders,  or  of  the 
twelve  governors,  after  the  twenty-third  September,  1368,  should 
be  understood  to  be  of  the  council  of  the  people  ;  and  from  this 
the  practice  began,  which  continued  as  long  as  the  republic,  that 
those  who  had  been  of  the  signori  should  be  of  this  council. 

"  It  was  likewise  ordained,  that  when  any  thing  should  obtain 
in  the  council  of  the  people,  which  ought  to  be  proposed  to  the 
general  council,  and  the  bell  was  ordered  to  ring  for  a  general 
council,  the  council  of  the  people  being  in  session,  the  members 
of  the  council  of  the  people  should  be  members  of  the  general 
council;  and  by  this  order  the  general  council  was  converted  into 
the  council  of  the  people,  and  was  no  more  assembled  during 
the  commonwealth.  The  public  was  very  much  in  debt,  and 
had  not  the  means  of  satisfying  its  creditors ;  it  was  therefore 
ordained,  that  all  those  who  had  lent  money  to  the  commons, 
and  ought  to  be  reimbursed,  should  be  arranged  in  three  different 
books,  according  to  the  distinction  of  the  thirds  of  the  city,  and 
made  creditors,  each  one,  in  the  sum  total  of  his  credit,  with 
orders  that  the  chamberlain  should  pay  at  the  rate  of  ten  per 
cent,  every  year  to  each  creditor;  and  this  union  or  consolidation 
of  the  public  debt  was  called  il  monte,  the  mountain,  or  the 
lump ;  and  this  practice  was  afterwards  repeated  upon  various 
occasions ;  and  these  were  the  provisions,  which  were  punctually 
paid  off  by  the  chamberlain  in  the  time  of  the  republic,  but 
were  imitated  afterwards,  merely  to  abate  the  debt  of  every  one, 
who  had  lent  money  in  the  ordinary  loans." 

We  see  by  this,  that  in  those  days  republicans  had  some 
regard  to  honesty  and  the  public  faith,  and  the  infamy  of  de 
frauding  creditors  was  left  to  the  absolute  monarchy. 

"  The  number  of  the  reformers  being  increased,  their  authority 
increased  every  day,  and  with  it  the  desire  of  reducing  the  office 


SIENA.  269 

of  lords  defenders  wholly  to  the  little  people,  called  the  people 
of  the  greater  number.  To  this  end,  in  1370,  they  excited  cer 
tain  tumults  among  the  journeymen  and  laborers  in  the  woollen 
manufacture,  inhabiting  the  coast  of  Ovile,  the  very  lowest 
of  the  people,  who,  meeting  frequently  together,  called  them 
selves  the  Company  del  Bruco,  because  such  was  the  ensign 
of  that  country;1  many  of  these,  having  taken  the  occasion 
of  some  quarrels  with  their  masters  in  the  woollen  trade,  and 
guided  by  one  Dominico,  a  dealer  in  old  clothes,  raised  a 
great  uproar,  beating  some  and  threatening  others ;  being  armed 
and  in  great  numbers,  as  it  was  a  year  of  scarcity,  they  turned 
to  the  houses  which  had  the  reputation  of  having  some  grain ; 
and,  through  fear,  it  was  given  out  to  them.  This  quieted 
them  until  three  of  their  leaders  were  taken  up  by  the  authority 
of  a  senator,  and  upon  examination,  confessed  crimes  enough  to 
condemn  them  to  death.  Upon  this  all  those  of  the  company 
del  Bruco,  arose  again  in  arms  with  a  very  great  noise,  ran  to 
the  palace  of  the  senator,  and  with  menaces  of  burning  him  in 
his  house,  insolently  demanded  the  three  prisoners.  They  then 
began  furiously  to  fight  with  the  officers  of  justice,  and  to  collect 
materials  for  applying  fire  to  the  gate.  The  captain  of  the  people, 
who  was  Francesco  Naddo,  perceiving  the  danger  in  which  the 
senator  was,  and  that  the  city  was  all  in  arms,  took  the  resolution, 
in  order  by  the  public  authority  to  prevent  the  disorder  from  in 
creasing,  to  go  in  person  and  endeavor  to  suppress  it.  With  his 
standard  and  trumpets  before  him,  he  arrived  at  the  palace  of 
the  senator;  but  finding  it  impossible  to  allay  the  fury  of  the 
plebeians  otherwise,  he  made  the  senator  set  at  liberty  the  three 
prisoners,  and  returned  to  his  palace,  believing  that  the  company 
would  lay  down  their  arms  as  they  had  promised. 

"  But  having  come  off  conquerors  in  this  warfare,  and  forced 
justice  herself,  they  acquired  so  much  presumption,  that,  running 
with  great  violence  to  the  gate  of  the  palace  of  the  signory,  and 
finding  it  locked,  they  attempted  in  several  ways  to  force  it; 
they  raised  a  loud  clamor,  that  the  four  lords  of  the  order  of 
the  twelve,  and  the  three  of  the  order  of  the  nine,  should  be 
banished ;  but  finding  them  well  defended,  they  ran  to  the  palace 
of  the  Salimbeni,  to  avail  themselves  of  their  assistance  and 

1  A  caterpillar. 
23* 


270  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

authority.  Having  in  the  way  encountered  Nannuccio  di  Fran 
cesco,  who  had  been  a  few  months  before  captain  of  the  people, 
because  he  had  upon  that  occasion  favored  the  order  of  the 
twelve,  they  slew  him.  The  Salimbeni  would  not  move  nor 
intermeddle  in  this  sedition.  They  therefore  took  from  them 
the  colors  with  the  ensign  of  the  people,  which,  as  associates  of 
that  faction,  they  still  held  at  their  window,  although  they  had 
made  a  peace  with  the  other  nobles.  From  the  gonfaloniers  of 
Camullia  and  San  Martino  they  likewise  took  their  standards, 
and  having  given  them  to  others,  they  returned  to  make  a  fresh 
attack  upon  the  palace  ;  and  being  repulsed  from  thence,  they 
sent  a  party  towards  Camullia  to  attack  the  house  of  the  Salim 
beni,  against  whom  they  were  bitterly  enraged,  because  they 
would  not  concur  in  this  revolution.  Meeting  a  company  of 
noblemen  of  the  houses  of  Salimbeni,  Malavolti,  Tolommei, 
Renaldini,  and  others,  in  considerable  numbers,  who  had  made 
a  great  exertion,  and  taken  arms  to  quell  this  tumult  of  the 
plebeians,  the  parties  went  to  action  immediately,  the  noble 
men  were  many  of  them  killed,  and  the  rest  routed;  and 
although  many  men  were  appointed  to  endeavor  to  quiet  the 
disturbance,  they  not  only  found  no  means  of  suppressing  it, 
but  they  found  it  impossible  to  prevent  it  from  increasing  every 
moment  in  violence ;  until  one  morning,  in  the  month  of  July, 
the  company  of  the  people  arose  in  arms  with  the  company  del 
Bruco,  and  dragged  from  the  palace  the  four  lords  who  resided 
there,  of  the  order  of  the  twelve,  and  three  of  the  order  of  the 
nine,  instead  of  whom  seven  others  of  the  larger  number  were 
elected  by  the  people,  to  reside  with  the  eight  who  remained  in 
the  palace,  and  fill  up  the  number  of  fifteen  signori. 

"  But  suspecting  that,  by  having  thus  brought  into  their  own 
hands  the  whole  government  of  the  city,  the  other  citizens 
would  be  provoked  to  make  an  alteration,  the  council  of  reform 
ers,  to  whom  full  power  had  been  given  by  the  general  council, 
resolved  that  the  names  of  those  of  the  twelve  and  the  nine, 
who  had  been  pulled  out  of  the  palace,  should  be  returned  into 
the  box  of  the  freemen,  so  that  they  might  be  drawn  another 
time  to  occupy  the  same  office,  and  enjoy  the  same  privileges, 
as  if  they  had  remained  in  the  palace  two  months  entire.  The 
order  of  the  twelve,  however,  not  being  satisfied  with  this  regu 
lation,  conspired  with  some  of  the  nine,  aided  by  the  captain  of 


SIENA.  271 

the  people,  who,  although  he  was  himself  of  the  popular  order 
of  the  greater  number,  was  of  an  elevated  spirit,  and  could  not 
bear,  that  the  state  should  be  reduced,  in  his  time,  with  such 
indignity  into  the  hands  of  men  of  such  base  condition,  entered 
into  the  conspiracy,  sent  them  the  master  gonfaloniers,  with 
their  arms,  who  united  with  the  conspirators,  and  on  a  sudden 
attacked  those  of  the  company  del  Bruco,  in  their  own  houses, 
on  the  coast  of  Ovile,  and,  before  they  had  time  to  get  their 
arms  and  make  a  stand,  slew  a  great  part  of  them  ;  and  they 
were  exasperated  into  such  rage  and  fury,  as  to  have  no  con 
sideration  of  age  or  sex,  but  to  murder  without  distinction  all 
who  came  in  their  way. 

"  At  the  same  time  the  company  of  the  people  having  risen, 
fought  in  the  piazza  and  in  several  places  of  the  city,  with  great 
ferocity,  and  the  twelve,  with  their  conspirators,  remained  in 
many  places  superior ;  but  a  stone,  cast  from  the  tower  of  the 
palace,  fell  upon  the  gonfalonier  of  San  Martino,  who,  with 
his  company,  returned  from  the  coast  of  Ovile,  was  fighting  in 
the  piazza,  and  struck  him  to  the  ground ;  and  every  one,  who 
saw  him,  believed  him  to  be  dead.  By  this  accident  his  party  was 
seized  with  a  panic  and  fled,  and  gave  an  opportunity  to  the 
popular  party  to  gain  the  superiority,  and  break  and  rout  the 
conspirators.  A  part  of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  conspiracy 
were  taken  prisoners,  together  with  Francino,  captain  of  the 
people,  and  Magio  Calzolaio,  gonfalonier  of  the  third  of  the  city  ; 
and  on  the  first  of  August,  1371,  without  letting  them  finish  the 
term  of  their  magistracy,  a  most  miserable  and  horrible  example 
was  set,  by  cutting  off  their  heads  publicly  in  the  piazza ;  at  the 
same  time,  they  beheaded  many  others ;  but  the  two  other  gonfa 
loniers,  having  saved  themselves  by  flight,  were  declared  rebels, 
with  many  others,  and  a  new  reformation  of  the  state  was  re 
solved  on. 

"  The  reformers  made  a  new  box  of  magistrates  for  five  years, 
continuing  the  office  of  the  fifteen  defenders,  of  whom  twelve 
were  popular  men  of  the  greater  number,  who  were  afterwards 
called  reformers,  and  three  popular  men  of  the  smaller  number, 
who  were  those  of  the  order  of  the  nine,  and  in  place  of  Fran 
cino,  as  captain  of  the  people,  Landino  Fabro  was  substituted. 
Confirming  the  usual  order,  they  resolved,  that  the  president  of 
the  council  of  reformers,  who  was  changed  every  third  day, 


272  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

should  act  with  the  lords  defenders  and  with  his  counsellors, 
although  they  had  joined  in  the  magistracy  four  of  the  little 
people,  in  place  of  those  whom  they  took  away  of  the  twelve, 
to  give  a  more  decisive  superiority  to  their  faction.  They 
admonished  and  disqualified  all  those  of  the  people  of  the 
middle  number  who  had  been  of  the  twelve,  and  twelve  fami 
lies  of  the  people  of  the  lesser  number,  who  had  been  of  the 
nine,  and  some  of  the  people  of  the  greater  number,  who  had 
been  numbered  among  the  reformers,  and  had  agreed  with 
the  twelve.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  were  condemned 
in  pecuniary  penalties ;  and  all  those  who  were  condemned  were 
called,  without  distinction,  Fini.  A  number  of  men,  both  horse 
and  foot,  sent  by  the  Salimbeni  for  the  service  of  the  twelve, 
arrived  at  Torrenieri,  but  learning  the  turn  of  affairs,  returned 
back.  Almost  all  the  lesser  artificers  afterwards  joined  them 
selves  to  the  number  of  the  reformers ;  and  for  the  security  of 
the  state  they  had  from  Florence  a  hundred  cavalry.  The  pub 
lic,  by  great  expenses  and  little  government,  being  without  any 
appropriation  of  money,  that  they  could  avail  themselves  of, 
the  reformers  introduced  the  practice  of  selling  the  public  reve 
nue,  besides  the  confiscations  and  penalties,  for  three  years, 
which  did  not  obtain  more  than  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  golden  florins.  This  commencement  of  the  usage  of 
selling  the  public  revenues,  which  was  continued  from  this  time, 
was  the  reason  why  the  public  was  always  in  debt ;  selling  for 
a  small  price,  which  was  not  sufficient  for  the  necessary  ex 
penses,  illegal  practices  were  the  consequence,  and  from  thence 
new  seditions,  which  finally  accomplished  the  ruin  of  the  repub 
lic.  The  twelve  did  not  cease  to  stir  matters  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  reformers,  because  the  capacity  of  being  in  the  magistracy 
was  now  taken  from  them.  For  security,  their  arms  were  taken 
from  them,  and  placed  in  the  chamber  of  the  commons,  and  the 
captain  of  the  people  seized  many  of  them  on  suspicion,  who 
were  in  great  danger  of  losing  their  heads." 

The  year  following  the  conduct  of  the  twelve  occasioned  the 
same  suspicions.  The  nobles  themselves  were  never  more  im 
patient  of  exclusion,  nor  more  eager  to  try  every  expedient  to 
recover  their  share  in  the  state.  The  nobles,  indeed,  were  not 
only  injured,  but  had  a  right  to  complain.  The  twelve  were 
injured,  but  they  had  only  that  wrong  done  to  them  which 


SIENA.  273 

they  had  set  against  the  nobles,  and  they  ought  to  have  recol 
lected, 

"  Nee  lex  est  justior  ulla 
Quam  necis  artifices  arte  perire  sua." 

But  if  the  rule  of  doing  as  you  would  be  done  by  were  the  rule 
of  life,  and  observed  by  all  men,  there  would  perhaps  be  no 
need  of  government  at  all. 

"  The  twelve,  to  be  sure,  did  not  think  their  own  case  and  that 
of  the  nobles  parallel,  but  were  indefatigable  in  insinuating, 
sometimes  into  one,  and  sometimes  into  another  of  the  little 
people,  that  it  was  neither  profitable  to  them,  nor  honorable  to 
the  public,  to  suffer  those  reformers  to  tyrannize  over  the  city ; 
and  they  frequently  succeeded  in  drawing  over  to  their  side  par 
tisans,  with  whom  they  proceeded  to  consult  of  the  means  of 
carrying  their  intentions,  to  take  the  government  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  reformers,  into  effect.  They  opened  themselves 
to  so  many,  that  at  length  the  machination  was  discovered,  and 
numbers  taken  up;  among  whom  was  Ser  Cecco  d' Andrea,  the 
man  of  the  highest  reputation  with  the  twelve,  who  was  be 
headed  ;  and  of  the  others,  some  were  imprisoned,  others  fined, 
and  those  who  had  escaped  by  flight  were  banished ;  and  Ser 
Agnolo  d' Andrea  was  condemned,  because,  having  made  a 
dinner  for  some  of  his  friends  at  his  country-house,  no  reformer 
was  invited."  Other  instances  of  the  grossest  prostitution  of  the 
judicial  power  were  attempted  by  the  vulgar  tyrants,  who  now 
had  the  sway.  "  Giovanni  Calzettaio,  who  was  one  of  the 
council  of  reformers,  prosecuted  one  of  the  twelve  for  striking 
him.  Niccolo  Rosso  da  Terano,  the  podesta,  upon  examination 
of  the  parties  face  to  face,  found  evidence  of  the  malicious  fraud 
of  the  reformer,  who,  to  give  a  color  to  his  false  accusation,  that 
the  other  had  broke  the  law,  by  which  it  was  made  capital  to 
strike  or  draw  blood  of  a  reformer,  had  struck  and  drawn  blood 
from  himself.  He  had  the  integrity  to  imprison  the  complainant, 
and  finding  him  to  be  so  abandoned  a  fellow,  and  many  charges 
brought  against  him  of  atrocious  crimes,  he  adjudged  him  to 
have  his  head  cut  off  under  the  gallows,  since  it  was  not  lawful 
to  hang  him,  being  one  of  the  reformers." 

Justice,  it  seems,  though  attempted,  was  not  yet  so  prostituted 
but  that  many  others  were  chastised  for  enormous  crimes ;  but 
the  most  of  the  criminals  being  of  the  people  of  the  greater 


274  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

number,  who  were  the  dominant  faction,  and  held  the  great  part 
in  the  government,  tumults  were  generated  in  no  small  numbers 
among  the  multitude. 

"  But  when  Antonio  di  Orso  and  Deo  Malavolti  were  impri 
soned  and  beheaded  for  having  carried  off  a  young  woman, 
though  with  her  own  consent,  and  half  a  dozen  other  noblemen 
executed  for  other  crimes,  the  plebeians  were  pacified  and 
softened  by  the  blood  of  so  many  nobles,  and  that  insurrection, 
which  had  been  raised  to  save  the  lives  of  the  condemned  ple 
beians,  was  quelled. 

"  When  all  were  returned  to  their  habitations,  and  their  arms 
laid  aside,  the  senator,  Louis  della  Marca,  ordered  four  of  the 
heads  of  the  late  sedition  to  obstruct  the  course  of  justice  to 
be  seized,  and  sentenced  them  to  be  hanged ;  others  he  impri 
soned,  and  some  were  fined.  The  senator,  among  so  many  con 
troversies,  rumors,  and  tumults,  as  occurred  during  his  adminis 
tration,  although  ex  debito  justitice  he  had  been  obliged  to  order 
so  many  executions,  ran  a  great  risk  of  being  murdered  in  those 
popular  seditions  of  multitudes,  who  were  offended  by  him,  and 
both  himself  and  his  family  were  under  no  small  apprehensions." 

In  such  a  state  of  society  the  human  heart  pours  forth  all  its 
turpitude,  and  all  parties  appear  to  be  equally  abandoned.  "  The 
signor  of  Perolla,  a  castle  of  the  Maremma  of  Siena,  died,  and 
left  an  only  daughter  heir  to  the  estate  and  the  lordship. 
Andrea  Salimbeni,  who  was  a  relation,  went  to  visit  the  young 
lady ;  by  some  fraudulent  stratagem,  which  is  not  explained,  he 
put  her  to  death,  made  himself  patron  or  tyrant  of  the  place, 
and,  with  a  gang  of  people  under  his  command,  committing 
robberies  on  the  highways,  and  all  the  neighboring  places,  ren 
dered  it  unsafe  to  pass  in  that  quarter.  The  report  of  this  was 
soon  carried  to  the  Sienese,  who  sent  out  a  body  of  men,  under 
the  command  of  the  senator,  and  the  twenty-third  of  April, 
1374,  took  the  place,  and  carried  Salimbeni,  with  twenty-eight 
others,  prisoners  to  the  city.  Sixteen  of  these  in  a  few  days 
were  beheaded  by  order  of  the  senator ;  but  either  from  respect 
to  the  family,  or  from  fear  of  their  power,  he  did  not  proceed 
against  Salimbeni.  Upon  this  the  company  del  Bruco  again 
arose  in  arms,  with  the  other  plebeians,  and,  running  to  the 
palace,  with  threats  demanded  of  the  lords  defenders  that  justice 
should  be  done  upon  Andrea  Salimbeni.  The  captain  of  the 


SIENA.  275 

people,  the  two  priori,  and  their  colleagues  of  the  lords  defend 
ers,  found  themselves  so  mean  in  spirit,  so  infertile  in  council,  so 
unskilful  at  their  own  game,  that  not  knowing  any  better  way 
to  prevent  the  evil  from  increasing,  they  gave  authority  to 
Noccio  Sellaio  to  do  in  that  emergency,  whatever  he  should 
judge  useful  to  the  commonwealth.  Noccio  snatching  eagerly 
at  this  opportunity,  by  which  he  thought  to  gain  the  hearts  of 
the  plebeians,  and  by  their  favor  raise  himself  to  power  and 
superiority  above  his  fellow-citizens,  entered  into  the  palace  of 
the  senator,  and  sitting  down  in  the  midst  of  an  immense 
crowd,  on  the  bench  from  whence  sentence  was  usually  given, 
condemned  Andrea  Salimbeni  to  death,  and  ordered  his  head  to 
be  struck  off  before  the  public.  Intending  to  dispatch  Pietro  da 
Massa  in  the  same  manner,  he  was  prohibited  by  the  major  part 
of  the  reformers,  who  began  to  perceive  his  design,  and  to  see 
the  error  which  the  lords  defenders  had  committed  in  giving  him 
such  an  authority ;  and  although  he  had  at  his  heels  the  com 
pany  del  Bruco,  and  the  other  lowest  plebeians,  they  revoked 
the  power  that  had  been  given  him.  This  measure  excited 
a  great  tumult  in  the  city  ;  but  the  reformers,  being  united,  were 
able  to  quiet  it. 

"  Niccolo  and  Cione  Salimbeni,  with  others  of  the  same 
family,  and  their  associates,  moved  with  indignation  and  grief 
at  the  outrage  which  had  been  committed  upon  Andrea,  took 
from  the  commons  of  Siena  the  castles  of  Monternassi  and  Boc- 
cheggiano,  and  with  large  companies  went  about,  committing 
depredations  in  the  country.  The  reformers,  to  make  prepara 
tions  for  recovering  their  lands,  and  for  making  head  against 
the  Salimbeni  and  their  followers,  created  a  new  magistracy  of 
ten .  citizens,  to  superintend  the  conduct  of  the  war.  The  first 
provision  made  by  this  new  council  of  war  was,  to  imprison 
twenty-six  citizens  of  the  order  of  the  twelve,  and  condemn 
them  in  twelve  thousand  golden  florins,  which  were  immediately 
paid."  Was  the  robbery  of  Salimbeni  worse  than  this  ?  "  They 
next  sent  to  demand  aid  of  Florence  and  Lucca,  and  obtained 
it;  but  ambassadors  were  sent  from  Florence,  Perugia,  and 
other  places,  at  the  same  time,  to  make  peace  if  possible,  knowing 
that  their  own  discontented  and  distracted  factions  were  ready 
to  break  out ;  but  the  Salimbeni  would  not  listen  to  any  thing, 
because  the  ten  had  sent  an  army  in  force  to  the  castle  of  Boc- 


276  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

cheggiano,  with  instruments  for  destroying  the  walls,  cranes, 
mortar-pieces,  and  other  things  which  in  those  days  were  used  in 
war  to  fortify  estates.  On  the  other  hand  the  Salimbeni,  having 
collected  together  many  of  their  friends  and  adherents,  watched 
a  convenient  opportunity,  sallied  out  from  their  lands,  and  attack 
ing  their  enemies  without  the  least  expectation,  broke  their 
order,  put  them  to  flight,  took  many  prisoners,  plundered  their 
camp,  and  burnt  all  the  frames,  bastions,  buildings  and  instru 
ments  they  found  there. 

"As  soon  as  this  defeat  was  well  known  in  Siena,  the  relations 
of  those  many  citizens,  who  remained  prisoners,  ran  in  arms  to 
the  houses  of  the  Salimbeni,  and  seized  all  they  could  find  of 
those  families,  that  they  might  hold  them  as  hostages  to  redeem 
their  own  relations.  Neither  the  plague  nor  famine,  both  of 
which  raged  this  year,  1374,  could  prevent  continual  plots  of 
the  Salimbeni  and  the  twelve  to  recover  the  government  of  the 
city,  and  constant  skirmishes  and  wars  between  them  and  the 
reformers  and  lords  defenders  throughout  all  the  territories  of 
the  republic.  In  the  year  following,  ambassadors  were  sent 
from  several  friendly  cities,  to  persuade  peace  between  the  re 
formers  and  the  Salimbeni.  The  reformers,  desirous  of  lessen 
ing  the  number  of  their  enemies,  in  1379  restored  all  the  rebels 
who  had  been  denominated  Fini,  and  banished  in  the  time  of 
those  seditions,  which  were  made  by  the  gonfaloniers  and  the 
twelve.  The  nobles,  however,  were  employed  in  forming  parties 
in  the  country,  and  in  negotiations  with  their  friends  in  the 
neighboring  cities,  till,  in  1384,  they  were  able  to  meet  the 
reformers  in  the  field,  and  give  them  a  complete  overthrow ;  and 
if  they  had  pursued  their  victory,  such  was  the  astonishment 
and  panic  of  the  reformers  in  the  city,  they  might  have  made 
themselves  masters ;  but  in  this  their  fortune  befriended  them. 
Finding  they  were  not  pursued  by  their  enemies,  they  assumed 
some  vigor  and  courage,  gave  orders  to  guard  the  gates  and 
suppress  the  seditions  which  were  moved  in  the  city  against  them, 
and  sent  abroad  for  foreign  aid. 

"  Florence,  Pisa,  Bologna,  and  Perugia,  hearing  of  so  great  a 
change,  and  fearing  greater  civil  discords,  sent  ambassadors  to 
Siena,  to  endeavor  to  reunite  the  nobles  in  exile,  and  the  popu 
lar  men  who  governed  the  city ;  but,  after  trying  every  mode  of 
negotiation,  and  every  proposition  of  accommodation,  with  both 


SIENA.  277 

parties,  they  found  they  could  make  no  impression  upon  either, 
and  returned  home.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  reformers,  that 
the  Florentine  ambassadors,  from  some  interest  of  their  republic, 
in  their  secret  negotiations  with  one  party  and  the  other,  had 
been  the  cause  that  the  peace  had  not  been  effected,  as,  from 
both  sides  appearing  to  be  weary  of  the  war,  was  generally 
hoped  and  expected.  The  time  was  come  when  the  magistrates, 
the  lords  defenders  for  the  months  of  March  and  April,  were  to  be 
drawn ;  and  the  council  being  assembled,  and  the  ballots  drawn, 
Giovanni  Minucci,  one  of  the  lords  defenders,  proved  to  be  cap 
tain  of  the  people.  When  the  council  dissolved,  they  perceived 
no  small  tumult  made  by  the  citizens  of  the  order  of  the  twelve, 
who  said,  they  did  not  know  for  what  reason  the  power  of  par 
ticipating  in  the  honors  and  cares  of  government  was  taken 
from  them,  rather  than  from  other  popular  men,  and  that  they 
no  longer  would  tolerate  the  abuse  ;  and  although  the  disturb 
ance  appeared  to  subside  for  the  present,  the  twelve,  fomented 
by  the  gentlemen,  who  were  very  active,  and  had  made  them 
selves  masters  of  a  great  part  of  the  dominion,  and  who  pro 
mised  the  twelve,  in  all  events,  to  assist  them  with  men,  arms, 
and  provisions,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  for  the  common 
service  against  the  reformers,  did  not  cease  to  demand,  with 
great  animosity  and  many  threats,  that  a  place  should  be  given 
them  in  the  magistracy. 

"  These  motions  of  the  twelve,  favored  by  the  nobles,  gave 
much  molestation  to  the  heads  of  the  government ;  and  there 
fore,  that  they  might  not  have  to  defend  themselves  against  too 
many  enemies,  on  the  twenty-third  of  March,  1384,  in  the  morn 
ing,  they  assembled  the  council,  and  obtained  that  the  twelve,  in 
the  new  draught,  should  have  a  part  in  that  magistracy,  by  in 
creasing  the  number  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  ;  but,  as  experience 
has  ever  proved,  gratitude  shown  and  remedies  applied  out  of 
season,  have  little  effect.  When  the  council  was  finished,  at  noon 
day,  Cestelli,  a  seditious  man  of  the  order  of  the  twelve,  was 
taken  up  by  the  ministers  of  justice.  He  refused  to  obey,  and 
calling  with  a  loud  voice  for  assistance,  multitudes  of  the  twelve 
and  the  nine  hastened,  at  his  cry,  to  his  relief,  and  took  the 
prisoner  by  force  from  the  officer,  who  had  already  drawn  him 
from  the  hill  to  the  piazza.  Upon  this  riot,  Materazza  and 
Nerini,  accompanied  by  a  great  number  of  reformers,  interposed, 
VOL.  v.  24 


278  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

partly  by  their  authority,  and  partly  by  their  arms,  to  recover 
the  prisoner.  They  fell  with  great  impetuosity  upon  those  who 
had  rescued  him,  and  denouncing  vengeance  and  death  on  the 
twelve  and  the  nine,  as  obstructers  of  justice,  cried,  '  Long  live 
the  Reformers ! '  At  this  cry  the  whole  city  rose  at  once  in 
arms,  and,  with  those  of  the  twelve  and  the  nine,  went  to  the  few 
noblemen  who  remained  in  Siena ;  having  taken  the  entrance 
of  the  piazza,  they  prevented  the  plebeians  from  passing  in  to 
the  aid  of  the  reformers,  and,  from  the  houses  of  the  Scotti  and 
Saraceni,  annoyed  the  multitude  of  reformers,  who  were  fighting 
in  the  piazza  against  their  friends.  The  contest  had  become  general 
in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and  it  appearing  to  the  nobles,  the 
twelve,  and  the  nine  (as  the  major  part  of  the  plebeians  ran  to  the 
service  of  the  reformers)  that  they  had  the  disadvantage,  they 
began  at  the  instigation  of  a  Jew  to  cry,  '  Peace  !  Peace ! '  At 
the  hearing  of  this  word,  industriously  echoed  in  various  parts  of 
the  city,  a  great  number  of  the  little  people,  distinguished  from 
the  plebeians  or  the  rabble,  wearied  out  with  so  many  seditions, 
and  united  with  the  nobles  and  their  adherents,  ran  with  great 
fury  to  the  prisons,  broke  them  open,  and  set  at  liberty  all  the 
prisoners,  among  whom  were  M.  Uguccione  and  Niccoluccio 
Malavolti ;  these,  taking  the  lead  of  the  multitude,  attacked  the 
army  of  reformers,  and,  urged  on  by  the  keen  desire  of  ven 
geance  for  the  injuries  received,  combated  with  such  intrepidity 
as  to  drive  them  out  of  the  piazza,  after  having  made  a  great 
carnage,  and  many  prisoners.  They  instantly  entered  the  palace, 
and,  although  the  people  within  made  a  gallant  defence,  took 
possession  of  it,  and  drove  out  the  lords  defenders  and  reformers, 
not  only  from  the  palace  but  the  piazza,  and  took  from  them  the 
administration  of  the  republic,  both  in  the  city  and  the  country. 
This  revolution  was  followed  by  the  usual  train ;  more  than  four 
thousand  men  of  the  faction  of  reformers,  chiefly  artificers,  in  a 
few  days  were  sent  into  exile ;  and,  what  is  worse,  when  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  their  affairs  were  accommodated,  not  the 
tenth  part  of  them  returned  to  their  country." 

Thus  ended  the  government  of  the  faction  of  reformers,  and 
this  new  species  of  sovereignty  in  one  assembly  ;  but  only  to  be 
exchanged  for  another,  consisting  of  nobles,  twelves,  and  nine. 

"  The  exiles  of  all  these  three  parties  now  returned  in  great 
numbers  from  all  the  neighboring  cities,  provinces,  and  countries 


SIENA.  279 

and  brought  with  them  a  strong  body  both  of  cavalry  and 
infantry.  We  may  now  expect  to  see  the  government  shining 
with  the  splendid  names  of  Salimbeni,  Malavolti,  Piccolomini, 
Tolommei,  and  all  the  rest;  but  we  have  no  reason  to  expect 
justice,  liberty,  order,  peace,  or  common  decency. 

"  The  new  government  was  instituted  in  a  new  magistracy  of 
ten  citizens,  to  be  changed  every  two  months,  and  entitled  the 
Lords  Priors  Governors  of  the  City  of  Siena,  into  which  num 
ber  were  to  be  admitted  four  popular  men  of  those  who  had 
been  of  the  twelve,  four  of  those  who  had  been  of  the  nine,  and 
two  of  the  people  of  the  greater  number ;  of  those,  however,  who 
had  not  been  of  the  council  of  reformers  nor  of  the  lords  defenders ; 
and  thus  the  people  were  divided  into  four  factions,  the  Nine,  the 
Twelve,  the  Reformers,  and  the  People,  and  of  these  discordant 
materials  in  one  assembly,  were  the  legislative,  executive,  and  ju 
dicial  powers  to  be  composed ;  and  this  mode  continued  till  1387." 

The  order  passed  in  a  general  council,  establishing  the  new 
regimen,  in  1385,  and  the  scrutiny  for  magistrates  was  made  for 
eight  years,  and  the  names  put  into  the  boxes,  a  practice  which 
was  analogous  to  that  in  Florence,  which  they  called  imborsation, 
which  was  putting  the  names  into  purses,  to  be  drawn  out  upon 
occasion.  Those  who  had  now  the  most  votes  in  the  general 
council  were  assorted  together  in  forty-eight  ballots,  one  of 
which  was  to  be  drawn  every  two  months.  The  first  draught 
was  now  made,  and  the  lot  produced  a  ballot,  in  which  were  the 
names  of  Andrea,  Cicerchia,  and  eight  others.  These  took  upon 
them  the  magistracy  of  lords  priors  governors,  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  March,  1385.  "  The  tumults  were  quieted,  the  soldiers 
disbanded,  the  fortresses  of  the  dominion  rendered  to  public 
commissaries,  many  remunerated  for  their  services,  fireworks 
played  off,  and  many  feasts  made,  and  incredible  manifestations 
of  joy,  and  ambassadors  sent  to  all  confederated  cities  to  inform 
them  that  the  city  was  delivered  from  the  tyranny  of  the  rabble, 
and  the  palace  cleansed,  which  had  been  once  thought  an 
Augean  stable.  Twelve  of  the  principals  of  the  conquered 
faction  were  put  to  death  by  the  course  of  justice,  and  thirty 
sent  out  to  the  frontiers,  and  the  major  part  of  those  who  had 
fled,  declared  rebels  and  enemies  pro  more  revolutionum;  and 
by  order  of  the  council  of  petitions,  under  authority  given  them 
by  the  general  council,  their  castles  were  restored  to  the  Salim- 


280  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

beni.  But  the  envy  of  fortune,  according  to  the  historian,  and 
the  malice  of  their  constitution,  according  to  truth,  would  not 
suffer  this  felicity  to  be  enjoyed  for  one  year.  The  Tolommei 
were  now  returned,  and  living  in  the  same  city  with  the  Sa- 
limbeni ;  and  this  fact  alone,  under  such  a  plan  of  government, 
would  be  enough  to  give  the  reader  an  anticipation  of  what 
would  be  the  consequences.  Conspiracies  were  formed  in  the 
country  among  the  friends  of  the  exiles,  and  by  companies  of 
depredators,  who  began  to  be  troublesome  and  to  do  mischief  in 
the  dominion.  The  Florentines,  too,  began  to  set  up  claims  upon 
parcels  of  territory ;  and  while  this  dispute  was  in  negotiation 
between  the  ambassadors  of  the  two  people,  a  plot  was  disco 
vered,  to  the  great  terror  of  those  who  governed  the  city,  com 
menced  by  a  part  of  the  family  of  Tolommei,  who,  in  concert 
with  some  popular  men,  who  intended  to  restore  the  reformers, 
had  drawn  towards  the  city  certain  foreign  troops,  in  an  irregu 
lar  manner,  from  different  places,  and  entertained  them  secretly 
in  several  of  their  fortresses.  These  troops,  hearing  that  their 
destination  was  discovered,  and  the  plan  impossible  to  be  exe 
cuted,  as  many  citizens  were  already  imprisoned  on  account  of 
it,  retreated,  and  the  prisoners  confessing  the  truth,  were  con 
demned  to  death.  Yet  the  lords  priors,  with  the  rest  of  their 
faction,  (for  the  government  was  never  any  more  than  a  faction,) 
were  in  trouble  enough,  knowing  the  danger  they  were  in  from 
the  divided  minds  of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  from  the  hatred 
and  immortal  enmity  which  the  Florentines  appeared  to  bear 
them.  This  storm  was  averted  by  submitting  the  dispute  with 
Florence  to  the  mediation  of  Bologna,  and  by  the  cession  of 
many  lands. 

"  One  conspiracy  was  scarcely  suppressed,  and  a  foreign  war 
declined  from  fear  of  themselves,  before  another  was  discovered 
of  greater  moment,  and  a  more  pernicious  nature  than  the  first, 
excited  by  M.  Spinello  Tolommei,  and  a  great  number  of  reform 
ers  and  others,  who  had  such  intelligence  in  Siena,  that  it  seemed 
to  them  easy  to  effect  a  revolution,  and  make  themselves  masters 
of  the  state.  But,  as  many  examples  both  ancient  and  modern 
demonstrate,  conspiracies  made  by  a  multitude,  through  the 
variety  of  interests  of  those  who  are  comprehended  in  it,  have 
-seldom  attained  their  intended  end ;  and  the  greater  part  of  con 
spirators  have  lost  their  lives  and  their  fortunes,  because  the 


SIENA.  281 

design  has  been  revealed  by  such  as  had  rather  be  rewarded  with 
security,  than  stand  in  danger  of  their  lives,  when  a  suspicion 
has  gone  forth  in  the  public ;  so  conspiracies  of  lesser  numbers 
have  been  equally  unfortunate,  through  the  want  of  power  to 
carry  them  into  execution.  The  reformers,  excited  by  Spinello 
Tolommei,  were  betrayed  by  one  of  their  associates ;  and  one  of 
their  chiefs,  Nanni  di  Dota,  was  beheaded ;  but  Tolommei  was 
too  powerful  a  man  for  such  a  government  to  dare  to  make  an 
example  of;  he  was  therefore  admitted  to  a  treaty  with  the 
magistrates.  Soon  afterwards  the  Count  Guido  di  Santa  Fiora 
submitted  to  the  commonwealth,  and  after  him  Monaldo  di 
Visconti  di  Campiglia. 

"Another  conspiracy  was  discovered  in  Siena  among  the 
reformers,  under  the  conduct  of  the  same  Spinello  Tolommei. 
A  spy,  whom  he  sent  with  a  letter  to  his  correspondents  in  the 
city,  was  intercepted,  threw  himself  out  of  a  window  in  despair, 
and  was  killed  in  the  fall,  and  a  few  of  the  conspirators  were 
beheaded.  The  city,  by  these  continual  plots,  so  often  discovered, 
was  kept  in  constant  terror,  as  was  every  village  and  castle  of 
the  whole  dominion ;  for  example,  in  the  castle  of  Casole  a  vio 
lent  sedition  was  awakened ;  the  Casolans  were  divided  into 
two  parties,  and  coming  to  arms  among  themselves,  skirmishes 
happened  every  day,  and  many  were  killed  and  more  wounded. 
The  same  mischievous  divisions  were  suffered  too  in  the  city  of 
Massa.  Monte  Pulciano,  likewise,  was  governed  by  a  single 
assembly  of  signori,  who  by  their  divisions  occasioned  similar 
seditions  and  civil  wars  among  themselves,  and  their  different 
parties  excited  a  long  war  between  Florence  and  Siena  ;  at  the 
conclusion  of  which  the  Florentines,  by  their  intrigues,  laid  the 
Sienese  under  many  disadvantages ;  and  these  would  have  been 
greater,  if  at  this  time  it  had  not  been  known  that  the  Sienese 
were  in  intimate  correspondence  with  Giovan  Galeazzo  Visconti, 
Lord  of  Milan,  who,  after  having  taken  the  city  of  Verona,  had, 
with  a  great  increase  of  his  power,  taken  the  city  of  Padua,  and 
made  prisoner  of  Francesco  da  Carrara,  who  was  lord  of  it. 

"  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  November,  1387,  to  give  some  satis 
faction  to  the  people,  who  began  again  to  show  signs  of  discon 
tent,  it  was  determined  in  Siena  that  to  the  number  of  the  ten 
lords  priors  there  should  be  added  one  of  those  popular  men  who 
had  been  reformers;  and  it  was  declared  that,  when  mention 
24* 


282  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

should  be  made  of  those  persons  who  were  of  the  reformers,  and 
who  might  be  admitted  to  occupy  the  office  of  the  signori,  and 
who  called  themselves  of  the  people  of  the  larger  number,  it 
should  be  understood  to  apply  to  their  fathers,  sons,  brothers,  by 
the  masculine  line ;  and  those  who  had  been  admonished  between 
1371  and  1384  should  be  comprehended  in  the  number  of  .the 
other  popular  men,  who  had  not  been  of  the  reformers  nor  signori ; 
and  if  any  of  the  monte  of  the  nine  (for  this  was  now  the  name 
of  distinction)  or  of  the  monte  of  the  twelve  had  been  of  the  .said 
reformers,  they  might  be  signori  for  the  monte  of  the  people  of 
the  greater  number ;  but  he  alone  should  be  considered  as  of  the 
reformers,  and  not  any  of  his  ancestors,  descendants,  or  connec 
tions  ;  as  these  should  all  remain  in  the  monte  (heap,  lump,  or 
collection)  of  which  they  had  been  before.  They  ordained,  more 
over,  that  of  the  chamberlains  and  notaries,  who  were  eleven  in 
number,  four  should  be  of  the  nine,  four  of  the  twelve,  and  three 
of  the  other  popular  men.  And  whereas  in  the  other  magistracies 
there  used  to  be  in  each  two  nobles,  one  of  the  twelve  and  one 
of  the  nine,  there  should  now  be  added  one  popular  man,  who 
had  not  been  either  of  the  nine  or  of  the  twelve,  and  thus  in  each 
of  those  magistracies  there  should  be  two  nobles  and  three  popu- 
lars ;  that  is  to  say,  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  record  of  the  delibe 
ration  of  the  council, '  one  of  tjie  nine,  one  of  the  twelve,  and  one 
of  the  other  populars ; '  and  of  these  other  populars,  one  at  one 
time  was  to  be  of  those  who  had  been  reformers  and  of  the 
signori,  for  the  monte  of  the  people  of  the  greater  number,  and 
one  other  at  another  time  of  those  of  the  same  monte,  who  were 
not  of  the  reformers  nor  the  lords  defenders ;  and  by  these  provi 
sions,  those  who  held  the  government  in  their  hands  studied  to 
conciliate  the  friendship  of  the  little  people,  and  take  away,  in 
some  degree,  the  occasions  of  conspiracies.  And,  that  they  might 
not  alienate  from  their  government  the  minds  of  the  nobles,  they 
resolved  that  all  the  podestaries  and  ordinary  captainships,  such 
as  the  captainship  of  Maremma,  Montagna,  Valdichiana,  and 
others,  should  be  given  to  the  nobles,  and  to  no  others;  and 
when  occurrences  should  oblige  them  to  send  abroad  extraordi 
nary  captains,  they  might  send  part  of  them  from  the  nobles  and 
part  from  the  populars ;  and  this  order  in  favor  of  the  nobles  was 
made  perpetual. 

"  These  and  other  regulations  were  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  all, 


SIENA.  283 

nor  yet  the  hostile  designs  of  Florence,  nor  the  victory  obtained 
by  Niccolo  Piccolomini  over  the  Brettoni,  to  divert  the  people  of 
Siena  from  their  discontents ;  so  that  on  the  eleventh  of  May, 
1388,  another  amendment  of  their  constitution  was  attempted. 
The  apprehensions  of  foreign  war  as  well  as  domestic  broils 
increased;  and  to  facilitate  the  public  deliberations,  that  they 
might  not  upon  every  occasion  have  to  call  a  general  council, 
they  intrpduced  a  council  of  substitutes,  and  called  them  the 
Simiglianti,  with  the  same  forms  and  the  same  authority  which 
the  council  formerly  had  in  the  times  of  the  twelve  and  the  nine. 
This  council  comprehended  all  those  who  had  been  of  the  lords 
priors  governors,  and  those  who  had  their  names  in  the  boxes  of 
the  same  magistracy,  to  whom,  that  they  might  not  appear  to  be 
diffident  of  them,  they  afterwards  added  twelve  noblemen,  elected 
from  the  nobility  in  general ;  and  to  gratify  and  oblige  those  of 
their  citizens  who  were  abroad,  and  prevent  them  from  joining 
their  enemies  within  and  without,  they  gave  a  pardon  to  those 
rebels  who  had  been  confined  for  six  months,  and  had  observed 
their  limits,  and,  although  their  time  was  not  expired,  gave  them 
leave  to  return  to  the  city;  those  who  were  confined  for  a  year, 
might  return  in  two  months ;  and  those  who  were  confined  for 
more  than  a  year,  in  six  months. 

"At  this  time,  Batista  Piccolomini  returned  from  Milan,  who 
had  been  sent  as  ambassador  there ;  and  with  him  was  sent  M. 
Giovanni  della  Porta,  treasurer  of  the  Lord  Giovan  Galeazzo, 
with  orders  to  raise  and  take  into  pay  as  large  a  number  of  sol 
diers  as  possible ;  and  to  this  end  the  treasurer  sent  his  paymas 
ters,  with  the  Count  Ugolotti  Bianchiardi,  who,  having  been  sent 
with  the  ambassador  by  Giovan  Galeazzo,  for  the  service  of  the 
city  of  Siena,  went  to  Marca,  and  engaged  in  the  pay  of  Visconti, 
M.  Brogliole  and  Brandolino,  each  with  a  hundred  cavalry,  and 
ordered  that.  Boldrino  da  Panicale  should  form  another  company. 

"  The  Florentines  carried  on  their  intrigues  with  so  many  fac 
tions  in  the  state,  and  discovered  a  disposition  so  hostile,  and 
designs,  or  at  least  desires,  of  making  themselves  masters  not 
only  of  Monte  Pulciano  and  the  other  dependencies,  but  of  Siena 
itself,  that  the  government  thought  it  advisable  to  hasten  their 
deliberations  upon  a  subject  they  had  in  contemplation  for  several 
months,  a  league  and  confederation  with  Giovan  Galeazzo  Vis 
conti,  Lord  of  Milan  and  Conte  di  Virtu.  This  prince,  since  he 


284  ON    GOVERNMENT. 

possessed  Verona  and  Padua,  had  intended  to  take  possession  of 
Bologna,  which  had  been  sometimes  under  the  dominion  of  the 
house  of  Visconti ;  and  because  the  Florentines,  as  confederates 
of  the  Bolognese,  had  sent  them  assistance,  and  favored  them  as 
much  as  they  could  with  their  armed  men,  took  upon  him  the 
protection  of  the  city  of  Siena,  and  promised  her  ambassador  to 
assist  her,  and  sent  the  Signer  Paolo  Savelli,  with  three  hundred 
lances,  upon  whose  arrival  uncommon  rejoicings  were  shown  in 
the  city.  Galeazzo  engaged  in  this  warfare,  not  so  much  for  the 
service  of  Siena,  as  to  have  an  opportunity  of  maintaining  the 
war  in  conjunction  with  them,  upon  that  side,  against  the  Flo 
rentines,  that  they,  having  employment  enough  to  defend  their 
own  houses,  might  not  be  able  to  send  succor  to  Bologna ;  and 
by  this  means  to  endeavor  to  make  himself  master  of  several 
places  in  Tuscany,  from  whence  he  might  hope,  by  maintaining 
the  divisions  and  most  ardent  hatred,  which  went  on  every  day 
increasing,  on  account  of  Monte  Pulciano,  and  the  injuries  the 
Florentines  and  Sienese  committed  against  each  other,  to  make 
himself  master  of  the  province,  and  at  length  King  of  Italy,  an 
ambition  he  had  long  entertained.  To  this  end  he  entered  into 
negotiation  with  the  ambassadors  of  Siena ;  and  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  September,  1389,  the  treaty  was  signed.  The  articles 
were,  that  the  league  should  continue  ten  years ;  that  common 
cause  should  be  made  in  a  war  against  Florence ;  that  Galeazzo 
should  maintain  during  the  war,  which  was  to  be  declared  in 
fifteen  days,  seven  hundred  lancemen,  with  three  horses  to  each 
lance,  in  his  pay  in  Tuscany,  for  the  service  of  the  commons  of 
Siena ;  and  the  Sienese  were  to  have  three  hundred  in  their  pay 
in  the  same  manner,  with  two  hundred  cross-bowmen ;  that  if 
their  enemies  should  send  forces  from  Tuscany  into  Lombardy, 
it  should  be  lawful  for  the  count  to  avail  himself  of  these  his 
forces,  but  that  Siena  should  not  be  obliged  to  send  her  forces 
out  of  Tuscany ;  that  the  count  should  not  be  obliged  to  make 
war  or  defend  the  Sienese  against  any  other  enemies  than  the  Flo 
rentines  ;  that  any  other  community  of  Tuscany  might  be  admit 
ted  into  this  league ;  that  all  the  cities,  lands,  fortresses,  and 
places  which  by  the  league  might  be  acquired  in  this  war,  should 
belong  to  the  republic  of  Siena,  if  it  had  any  previous  pretensions 
to  the  dominion  of  it ;  otherwise,  every  one  should  be  left  to  its 
liberty,  upon  condition  of  holding  the  league  and  their  allies  for 


SIENA.  285 

friends,  and  their  opposers  for  enemies,  and  of  giving  hospitality, 
passage,  and  provisions,  on  paying  for  them,  to  the  people  of  the 
league.  Galeazzo  might  make  peace,  truce,  or  armistice  with 
the  people  of  Florence,  including  the  commons  and  people  of 
Siena,  with  all  their  lands,  cities,  and  subjects ;  but  the  Sienese 
could  not  make  either  without  his  consent ;  and  the  ratification 
was  to  be  on  both  sides  exchanged  in  three  months. 

"A  war  ensued,  which  lasted  till  1389,  and  was  then  concluded 
by  a  peace,  and  a  confederation  between  many  republics  and 
princes;  the  Conte  di  Virtu,  Florence,  Bologna,  Perugia,  the 
Marquis  of  Ferrara,  Siena,  the  Lord  of  Mantua,  the  Lords  de' 
Malatesti,  Lucca,  the  Count  di  Montefeltro,  Pisa,  &c.  This 
confederation,  however,  was  not  well  observed ;  and  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Monte  Pulciano,  particularly,  violated  it,  as  was  supposed, 
at  the  instigation  of  Florence.  This  occasioned  not  only  a  rati 
fication  of  the  former  treaty,  but  the  formation  of  a  new  one 
between  the  republic  of  Siena  and  the  Signer  Giovan  Galeazzo 
Visconti,  Conte  di  Virtu,  Lord  and  Imperial  Vicar  of  Milan.  The 
county  or  earldom  of  Virtu  is  a  state  in  France,  in  the  province 
of  Champagne,  which  was  given  by  King  John  in  dower  to  Isa 
bella  his  daughter,  married  to  this  Prince  Giovan  Galeazzo  Vis 
conti,  which  acquired  him  the  title  of  Conte  di  Virtu ;  and  of 
which  marriage  was  born  Madame  Valentina,  wife  of  Louis,  Duke 
of  Orleans,  brother  of  Charles  VI.,  King  of  France,  who  had  in 
dower  the  same  Conte  di  Virtu,  and  the  city  of  Asti  in  Piedmont ; 
of  Charles,  their  first-born,  Duke  of  Orleans,  was  born  the  King 
Louis  XII ;  of  Giovanni,  their  second  son,  Count  of  Angouleme, 
was  born  Charles  of  Angouleme,  father  of  the  King  Francis  I. 
These  successors  of  Valentina  pretended,  after  the  death  without 
issue  of  Giovan  Maria  and  Filippo  Maria,  their  brothers,  sons  of 
Giovan  Galeazzo,  that  the  state  of  Milan  belonged  to  them ;  and 
for  this  reason  the  King  Louis  XII.  and  the  King  Francis  I. 
afterwards  made  that  celebrated  war  in  Lombardy,  and  recovered 
and  lost  several  times  over  the  duchy  of  Milan. 

"To  return  from  this  digression,  —  on  the  ninth  of  November, 
1389,  the  treaty  was  ratified  and  exchanged  between  Siena  and 
the  count;  yet  a  fresh  conspiracy  was  discovered  in  the  city, 
excited  by  Spinello  Tolommei  in  banishment,  and  the  reformers, 
in  conjunction  with  foreigners,  and  Monte  Pulciano  again  rebelled; 
but  the  arms  of  Siena,  aided  by  the  count  and  his  captain,  Charles 


286  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Malatesta,  were  triumphant  at  home  and  abroad,  and  this  year 
the  first  bombardment  ever  seen  in  Tuscany  was  practised.  Upon 
some  little  reverse  of  fortune,  when  the  count  lost  the  fortress  of 
Padua,  and  when,  to  the  calamities  of  war,  those  of  pestilence 
and  famine  were  added,  in  1390,  the  noble  families  of  Salimbeni, 
Tolommei,  and  Malavolti,  unable  to  bear  one  another,  and  some 
of  them  still  less  willing  to  submit  to  a  superior,  resumed  their 
old  employment  of  exciting  seditions.  Florence  wanted  peace, 
and  the  pope  exhorted  it.  The  families  of  Tolommei  and  Mala 
volti,  still  jealous  of  the  Salimbeni,  and  their  superior  influence 
and  favor  with  the  count,  began  to  stir  up  discontents.  In  their 
opinion,  it  was  neither  profitable  nor  glorious,  nor  even  honorable 
for  the  republic  to  waste  itself  on  all  sides  for  the  service  of  the 
Count  Galeazzo,  who,  in  the  greatest  exigency  of  the  war,  had, 
by  withdrawing  his  forces,  left  it  a  prey  to  the  enemy.  From 
this  specimen  of  his  conduct,  the  Sienese  could  only  expect,  if 
he  had  been  or  should  be  victorious,  a  servitude  which  they 
would  find  very  bitter  and  irksome.  Every  one  who  was  not 
blinded  by  an  immeasurable  hatred,  which  the  vulgar  had  con 
ceived  against  the  Florentines  for  the  injuries  they  had  done  the 
republic,  must  already  see  the  disposition  of  the  count;  and 
especially  since  the  arrival  from  Milan  of  the  Marquis  Andreasso 
Cavalcabo,  of  his  privy  council,  to  take  upon  him  the  office  of 
senator  of  Siena,  to  which  he  had  been  elected.  The  marquis 
had  demanded,  with  great  ceremony,  in  the  name  of  his  master, 
and  on  his  behalf,  that,  for  the  common  utility,  the  dominion  of 
the  city  of  Siena  should  be  given  to  him.  This  embassy  caused 
a  wonderful  change  in  the  minds  of  all  those  who  desired  that 
their  country  should  remain  independent  and  free  ;  and  the  more, 
as  they  knew  that  the  generality  of  the  citizens,  without  listening 
to  any  arguments  against  it,  and  without  any  consideration  of 
futurity,  or  of  the  nature  of  princes,  never  content  with  a  middle 
flight,  and  never  long  to  be  depended  on,  were  not  only  inclined 
to  it,  but  had  prepared  a  petition  to  the  general  council,  that  an 
answer  should  be  given  to  the  count's  ambassador  in  these  words : 
1  We  are  content;  and,  as  a  singular  favor,  we  supplicate  his 
lordship  that,  from  his  benignity,  he  will  be  pleased  to  take  upon 
him  and  accept  the  dominion  and  government  of  the  city  of 
Siena,  its  country  and  district,  and  of  us  his  devoted  children  and 
servants ;  and  that  he  rule  and  govern  us  as  to  his  excellency  shall 


SIENA.  287 

seem  convenient;'  and,  descending  to  particulars,  they  added 
and  affirmed,  '  We  are  ready  to  give  and  confer  upon  him  the 
city  of  Siena,  its  country  and  district,  with  its  simple  and  mixed 
empire,  and  to  transfer  to  him  liberally  the  lordship  and  govern 
ment  of  it,  so  that  he  may  freely  dispose  of  it,  in  all  things,  as 
of  the  city  of  Milan,  or  Padua,  or  any  other  the  most  submissive 
to  him.' 

"  The  contents  of  this  petition,  although  at  first  prepared  in 
secret,  had  reached  the  ears  of  those  who  endeavored  to  promote 
peace  with  Florence  and  the  public  tranquillity,  wonderfully 
irritated  their  minds,  and  incited  them  to  show  to  their  fellow- 
citizens  the  incredible  damage  to  the  city  which  must  arise  from 
such  an  unlimited  submission  ;  and  to  foretell  that,  in  a  little 
time,  when  they  should  begin  to  experience  the  bitterness  of 
servitude  to  such  as  are  born  and  bred  to  liberty,  they  would  in 
vain  repent  of  their  levity,  rashness,  and  error.  They  recalled  to 
the  recollection  of  the  citizens  the  great  virtues  of  their  fathers 
and  other  ancestors,  which  had  defended  their  country,  preserved 
their  liberties,  and  transmitted  both  to  them ;  and  with  how 
much  generosity,  bravery,  and  magnanimity,  they  themselves 
had  defended  it  in  arms  against  Charles  IV.,  when  present  in 
Siena  in  1368  with  a  powerful  army.  That  they  were  under 
the  most  tender  obligation  to  transmit  the  sacred  trust  to  their 
posterity;  and  this  they  might  easily  do,  to  the  inestimable 
benefit  of  the  city,  by  a  peace,  which  they  had  the  power  and 
opportunity  to  make.  That  when  they  should  be  delivered  from 
the  calamities  of  foreign  war,  and  the  yoke  of  tyranny  which 
hung  over  their  necks,  they  should  be  at  leisure  to  make  provi 
sions  of  grain  against  the  famine,  and  to  find  alleviations  of 
their  distresses  from  the  plague. 

"  To  these  reasonings  of  the  Tolommei  and  Malavolti  were 
opposed  those  of  the  Salimbeni,  who,  having  been  long  favorites 
of  the  Ghibelline  party,  were  mortal  enemies  of  the  others,  who 
were  Guelphs.  Moved  by  the  interests  of  faction  more  than 
those  of  the  public  service,  having  procured  the  petition  to  be 
heard,  and  the  decree  passed  and  proclaimed  by  the  council,  in 
order  to  oppress  the  opposite  party  by  arms,  when  they  had  not 
been  able  to  answer  their  reasons,  they  drew  over  to  their  side 
M.  Giovan  Tedesco,  head  of  the  Ghibellines  in  Arezzo,  with 
his  cavalry,  and  marched  through  the  city,  accompanied  with  a 


288  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

great  multitude  of  people  of  their  faction,  and  proclaimed  the 
name  of  Giovan  Galeazzo  Visconti,  Conte  di  Vertu  and  Lord  of 
Milan,  protector,  and  chief  of  the  Ghibelline  faction  in  Lom- 
bardy,  and  slew  in  this  sedition  twenty  men  of  the  followers  of 
the  adverse  party,  and  made  many  prisoners ;  among  whom  was 
Niccolo  Malavolti,  who,  though  he  had  often  honorably  acted  for 
the  service  of  the  republic,  was,  with  many  others,  beheaded. 

"  The  other  members  of  the  families  of  Tolommei  and  Mala 
volti,  with  many  of  their  followers,  left  the  city,  and  retired  to 
their  castles.  The  people  of  Siena,  wearied  out  of  patience  by 
being  the  dupes  and  tools  of  two  or  three  ambitious  families, 
were  easily  led  by  one  of  them  to  rejoice  in  placing  a  master 
over  all.  They  were  now  so  inclined  and  disposed  to  servitude 
to  one,  in  preference  to  a  few,  that,  blinded  with  anger,  they 
would  not  see  the  evident  ruin  which  must  come  with  the 
destruction  of  public  liberty ;  and  neither  themselves  nor  their 
leaders  knowing  the  true  cause  of  their  divisions  and  mis 
fortunes,  nor  any  remedy  by  which  union  and  liberty  might  be 
reconciled  by  law,  they  humbly  solicited  the  subjugation  of  their 
country,  and  the  privilege  —  of  passive  obedience. 

"  On  the  fifteenth  day  of  March,  in  the  same  year,  the  record 
was  approved  in  the  general  council,  and  authority  was  given  to 
the  lords  priors  to  appoint  a  syndic,  and  a  deputy  of  the  com 
mons  of  Siena,  to  execute  all  that  was  contained  in  the  resolu 
tion,  and  to  deliver  the  keys  of  the  city  to  the  commissaries  of 
the  Count  Galeazzo,  with  its  absolute  dominion,  without  pact  or 
convention  of  any  kind." 

The  example  is  here  complete;  and  although  the  tyranny  of 
the  Visconti  was  afterwards  overturned,  various  forms  of  a  repub 
lic  attempted,  exiles  sent  out  and  recalled  as  usual,  yet,  as  the 
executive  power  was  always  left  in  an  assembly,  and  inveterate 
factions  were  not  legally  separated  from  each  other,  nor  empow 
ered  to  control  each  other,  the  same  divisions,  seditions,  and  civil 
wars  were  perpetual,  till  the  same  weariness  induced  the  people 
again  to  confer  the  sovereignty  on  the  Grand-Duke  of  Etruria, 
where  it  remains  to  this  time.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  what 
further  experiments  can  be  made  of  a  sovereignty  in  one  assembly, 
or  how  the  consequences  to  be  drawn  from  them  can  be  more 
decisive.  Whether  the  assembly  consists  of  a  larger  or  a  smaller 
number,  of  nobles  or  commons,  of  great  people  or  little,  of  rich 


SIENA-  ,         289 

or  poor,  of  substantial  men  or  the  rabble,  the  effects  are  all  the 
same, — No  order,  no  safety, no  liberty,  because  no  government  of  law. 

It  is  often  said,  that  the  republics  of  Greece,  Rome,  and 
Tuscany,  produced  in  the  minds  of  their  citizens  great  virtues ; 
an  ardent  love  for  their  country,  undaunted  bravery,  the  love  of 
poverty,  the  love  of  science,  &c.  But  if  a  little  attention  is 
bestowed  upon  the  subject,  these  will  be  found  to  be  very  feeble 
arguments  in  their  favor.  It  was  not  the  love  of  their  country, 
but  of  their  faction.  There  were  in  every  city  three  factions  at 
least ;  every  citizen  loved  one  third  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
hated  the  other  two  thirds.  It  is  true  that,  in  such  a  state  of 
things,  affection  for  friends  strengthens  in  proportion  to  the  fear 
and  hatred  of  enemies ;  and  the  desire  of  revenge  becomes  as 
strong  a  passion,  and  demands  gratification  as  imperiously  as 
friendship,  and  perhaps  even  more.  How  was  it  possible,  when 
men  were  always  in  war  and  danger,  that  they  should  not  be 
brave  ?  Courage  is  a  quality  to  be  acquired  by  all  men,  by 
habit  and  practice.  When  scenes  of  death  and  carnage  are 
every  day  before  his  eyes,  how  is  it  possible  that  a  man  should 
not  acquire  a  contempt  of  death,  from  his  familiarity  with 
it,  especially  if  life  is  made  a  burden,  by  continual  exertion 
and  mortification  ?  The  love  of  poverty  is  a  fictitious  virtue 
that  never  existed.  A  preference  of  merit  to  wealth  has  some 
times  existed  under  all  governments;  but,  most  of  all,  under 
aristocracies.  This  is  wisdom  and  virtue  in  all.  But  can  much 
of  this  be  found  in  the  histories  of  any  country,  that  was  not 
poor,  and  obliged  to  be  so  ?  Can  we  see  much  of  it  in  Florence 
and  Siena  ?  The  love  of  science  and  literature  always  grows 
where  there  is  much  public  deliberation  and  debate ;  and  in  such 
governments,  where  every  faculty  as  well  as  passion  is  always 
on  the  stretch,  great  energy  of  mind  appears.  But  there  is  a 
form  of  government  which  produces  a  love  of  law,  liberty,  and 
country,  instead  of  disorder,  irregularity,  and  a  faction ;  which 
produces  as  much  and  more  independence  of  spirit,  and  as 
undaunted  bravery;  as  much  esteem  of  merit  in  preference  to 
wealth,  and  as  great  simplicity,  sincerity,  and  generosity  to  all 
the  community,  as  others  do  to  a  faction;  which  produces  as 
great  a  desire  of  knowledge,  and  infinitely  better  faculties  to 
pursue  it ;  which,  besides,  produces  security  of  property,  and  the 
desire  and  opportunities  for  commerce,  which  the  others  obstruct. 

VOL.  v.  25  s 


290  ,  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Shall  any  one  hesitate  then  to  prefer  such  a  government  as  this 
to  all  others?  A  constitution  in  which  the  people  reserve  to 
themselves  the  absolute  control  of  their  purses,  one  essential 
branch  of  the  legislature,  and  the  inquest  of  grievances  and  state 
crimes,  will  always  produce  patriotism,  bravery,  simplicity,  and 
science ;  and  that  infinitely  better  for  the  order,  security,  and 
tranquillity  they  will  enjoy,  by  putting  the  executive  power  into 
one  hand,  which  it  becomes  their  interest,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
nobles,  to  watch  and  control. 


CHAPTER   SIXTH. 

BOLOGNA. 

"  THE  Tuscans  were  an  ancient  and  original  people  of  Italy, 
whose  power  was  so  considerable,  that  they  extended  their 
dominion  from  one  sea  to  the  other.  These  people,  some  ages 
before  the  foundation  of  Rome,  built  twelve  cities,  and  among 
them  Bologna,  which  was  made  the  capital  of  the  kingdom.* 
Some  years  afterwards,  when  Constantine,  from  his  reverence  for 
the  holy  see,  had  transported  the  throne  of  the  empire  to  Byzanti 
um,  and  the  majesty  of  the  emperors  was  become,  from  its  dis 
tance,  little  respected  by  the  Italians,  many  cities,  and  Bologna 
among  the  rest,  in  382,  instituted  a  republic.  Claterna,  a  neigh 
boring  city,  at  the  distance  of  twelve  miles,  which  had  been  built 
also  by  the  Tuscans,  likewise  erected  an  independent  republic ; 
but  first  an  emulation  arose,  and  afterwards  a  war,  in  which  the 
Claternates  were  subdued,  and  they  being  as  discontented  with 
their  obedience  to  the  citizens  of  Bologna,  as  they  had  formerly 
been  with  that  to  their  king,  they  were  received,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Romans,  into  the  country  of  the  conquerors. 
This  city  was  afterwards  ruined  by  the  barbarians  so  entirely, 
that  no  vestige  of  it  remains  but  in  history. 

"  In  961,  Otho,f  Emperor  of  the  Germans,  came  into  Italy, 
delivered  it  from  the  yoke  of  the  Berengarii,  obtained  of  the 
pope  the  crown  imperial,  and,  with  general  applause,  the  title  of 
Otho  the  Great.  This  prince,  perceiving  that  the  cities  of  Italy, 
from  their  natural  generosity  of  sentiment,  and  their  distance 
from  the  emperor,  could  not  be  held  in  subjection,  conceded  to 
many  of  them  their  liberty,  reserving  a  light  tribute. 

"  J  Bologna  obtained,  with  a  sort  of  preeminence,  and  with  a 
smaller  tribute,  her  usual  liberty,  with  the  privilege  of  electing 

*  Bombaci,  p.  2. 

f  Muratori,  Annali,  torn.  v.  p.  397,  anno  961  -  2. 

i  Consegui  Bologna  con  maggiori  preeminenze,  e  minori  gravezze  la  esperi- 
mentata  liberta  con  facolt£  d'  eleggere  i  magistrati  con  mero,  e  rnisto  impero,  e 
conforme  all'  institute  di  Ottone,  con  tre  sorte  di  consigli  diede  forma  alia  sua 
republica,  con  titolo  di  comune.  L'  uno  fu  il  consiglio  di  Credenza  che  era  quello 
de'  consoli,  e  de  gli  altri  magistrati ;  V  altro  fu  il  particolare  che  comprendeva  i 


292  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

her  magistrates  with  a  mixed  authority ;  and,  conformably  to  the 
institution  of  Otho,  gave  a  form  to  her  republic,  with  three 
councils,  with  the  title  of  a  community.  The  one  was  the 
Council  of  the  Credenza^  which  was  that  of  the  consuls  and  the 
other  magistrates ;  the  other  was  called  the  Special  Council, 
and  comprehended  the  nobility  ;  the  third  was  called  the  General 
Council,  and  was  that  of  the  people,  which,  without  the  power 
of  suffrage,  was  assembled,  in  order  to  be  present  at  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  oaths  to  the  magistrates,  and  other  similar 
public  appearances." 

In  this  constitution  there  is  a  shadow,  and  no  more,  of  three 
branches.  The  people,  who  ought  to  constitute  an  essential 
part,  were  excluded  from  all  influence,  and  only  called  out  occa 
sionally  to  look  at  their  rulers,  and  gratify  their  senses  with 
shouts  of  acclamation.  The  credenza  and  the  nobility  formed 
an  aristocracy,  in  which  the  magistrates  were  appointed,  and 
the  administration  conducted.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  imita 
tion  of  the  Roman  consuls  and  senate,  without  even  the  poor 
expedient  of  a  tribune  to  control  them. 

In  1153,  the  cities  of  Italy  began  to  elect  pretors,  whom  they 
named  podesta  or  bailiffs  ;  and,  excited  by  their  example,  the 
citizens  of  Bologna  elected  Guido  Sassi  to  that  magistracy,  and 
invested  him  publicly  with  the  sceptre  and  the  sword  of  justice. 
This  was  a  reduction  of  the  divisions  of  the  republic  to  that 
union  which  is  the  effect  of  the  government  of  a  single  person, 
against  the  corruption  of  which  they  endeavored  to  provide  by 
the  college  of  consuls,  and  by  the  brevity  of  annual  magistrates. 

"  Felsinus,  King  of  Tuscany,  was  the  founder  of  the  royal 
city  of  Bologna,  the  mother  of  arts,  sciences,  and  studies,  and 
the  nurse  of  laws,  and,  after  his  own  name,  called  it  Felsina. 
This  city,  which  the  Italian  authors  delight  to  describe,  is  situ 
ated  at  the  foot  of  the  Apennines,  in  the  middle  of  the  Emilian 
Way,  in  the  forty-fourth  degree  of  latitude,  between  mountains 
and  plains  equally  beautiful  and  fertile ;  in  the  north  a  fruitful 
plain  in  the  east  the  river  Savena,  in  the  west  the  Rhine ;  not 
far  from  the  sea,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  lakes  and  rivers 

nobili ;  il  terzo  fu  il  generale,  et  era  quello  del  popolo,  quale  per6  senza  podesta 
de'  suffragi,  si  raddunava  ad  esser  presente  a'  giuramenti  de'  magistrati,  et  ad 
altre  somiglianti  apparenze.  Historic  memorabili  della  Cittti  di  Bologna  ristrette 
da  Gasparo  Bombaci,  p.  9. 


BOLOGNA.  293 

abounding  with  fish.  The  air  is  temperate,  and  the  country 
plentiful  of  every  thing  necessary  and  useful  to  human  life.* 
This  glorious  city  was  made  by  the  kings  of  Tuscany  the  me 
tropolis  of  their  dominion,  and  the  seat  of  their  residence. 
Their  empire  indeed  extended  only  over  the  twelve  cities,  of 
which  this  was  the  first ;  the  others  were  Veii,  Chiusi,  Cortona, 
Populonia,  Tarquini,  Vetulonia,  Volterra,  Volsena,  Roselle,  Pe 
rugia,  Arezzo,  and  Fiesole." 

In  the  year  1123,  the  form  of  the  republic  of  Bologna,  the 
state  of  the  city,  and  the  customs  of  the  citizens,  were  as  follows. 
Those  who  shall  read  their  history,  will  easily  perceive  that  this 
republic  did  not,  in  those  ancient  and  rude  times,  administer  the 
city  scientifically,  nor  conduct  skilfully  the  affairs  of  war.  "  They 
elected  three  councils,  a  special  council,  a  general  council,  and  a 
council  of  credenza,  in  the  authority  of  which,  with  their  magis 
trates  and  judges,  the  supreme  government  consisted.  The  spe 
cial  council  was  elected  annually  in  this  manner.  In  the  be 
ginning  of  December  the  special  and  the  general  council  were 
convoked,  either  by  the  consuls  or  by  the  pretor,  according  as 
one  or  the  other  of  those  officers  happened  to  be  in  the  govern 
ment  of  the  republic,  in  presence  of  whom,  every  one  of  the 
council,  observing  the  order  of  his  tribe,  made  his  election  and 
his  drawing  by  lot.  For  this  purpose,  there  stood  before  a  tribu 
nal  two  urns,  in  one  of  which  were  placed  to  be  drawn  as  many 
tickets  as  there  were  men  of  that  tribe  present  in  council,  and 
on  them  their  names  were  written ;  in  the  other  were  as  many 
blanks,  except  ten  written  upon  by  the  hands  of  two  brothers, 
hermits  of  St.  Augustin,  deputed  by  the  council  for  that  pur 
pose.  When  the  drawing  was  to  be  made  of  the  first  tribe,  a 
boy  of  the  age  of  twelve  years,  or  less,  drew  a  ticket  from  the 
principal  urn,  and  the  person  whose  name  came  out  presented 
himself  at  the  tribunal ;  the  boy  at  the  second  urn  drew  another 
ticket,  and  if  by  chance  it  was  blank,  that  person  was  exclud 
ed  from  the  election  of  the  council ;  but  if  the  ticket  was  written 
upon,  he  became  an  elector;  and  this  method  was  followed, 
until  the  ten  black  or  written  tickets  declared  the  ten  electors  of 
that  tribe.  This  being  done,  the  same  was  repeated  by  the  men  of 
the  other  tribes,  one  by  one,  until  forty  men,  that  is  to  say,  ten  for 

*  Ghirardacci,  Historia  di  Bologna,  p.  2. 
25* 


294         •  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

each  tribe,  were  electors.  Then  the  forty  electors  retired  to  a  secret 
place,  and  elected  six  hundred  men,  that  is  to  say,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  for  each  tribe,  excluding,  however,  the  mean  and  poor 
artisans,  occupied  in  low  and  base  works,  and  minors  of  eighteen 
years ;  neither  was  any  one  obliged  to  accept  of  this  office.  And 
these  six  hundred  men  then  presented  themselves  as  the  special 
council.  In  the  same  manner  and  order,  in  substance,  in  three 
days,  the  council  of  credenza  was  elected ;  but  all  the  doctors  of 
laws,  without  other  qualification  or  appointment,  might  enter  this 
council,  and  that  of  the  six  hundred.  After  three  days  more, 
the  general  council  were  elected  exactly  in  the  same  mode ;  but 
he  who  had  been  an  elector  in  one  council  could  not  be  an  elec 
tor  in  another.  These  councils  assembled  sometimes  all  toge 
ther,  and  at  other  times  separately,  according  to  the  nature  of 
their  business,  and  they  assembled  at  the  sound  of  a  bell  or 
trumpet.  There  were  provided  by  these  councils  three  bells,  the 
lesser,  the  middle,  and  the  greater ;  for  the  special  council  the 
smaller  bell  was  rung,  for  the  council  of  credenza  the  middle, 
and  for  the  council  general  the  greater.  It  was  forbidden  to  the 
consul,  or  the  pretor,  to  convoke  the  councils,  if  he  had  not  pre 
viously  ordered  the  business  which  was  to  be  treated  by  the 
chancellor  to  be  written  in  a  book  provided  for  that  purpose. 
When  the  council  was  collected,  the  chancellor  publicly  proposed 
the  subject  that  was  to  be  considered  ;  and,  this  done,  the  ora 
tors,  who  were  four,  and  stood  near  the  tribunal  of  the  magis 
trates,  reasoned  in  public.  A  like  privilege  was  granted  to  the 
orators  of  the  magistrates,  who  were  also  four ;  but  this  only 
touching  the  business  of  the  magistrates,  and  their  opinions,  in 
answer  to  the  question  separately  put  to  them,  were  written  down, 
and  called  the  resolution  or  division.  It  was  sometimes  tolerated, 
when  it  appeared  to  be  necessary,  that  private  or  individual 
magistrates  should  harangue  in  council,  who,  mounted  in  a  pul 
pit,  with  a  loud  voice  delivered  their  opinions ;  and  upon  the 
questions  proposed  by  them  a  division  was  made,  or  a  resolu 
tion  taken.  These  divisions  were  made  in  various  ways.  Some 
times  the  opinion  of  every  one  was  taken  in  secret,  and  written 
down  by  a  notary,  successively ;  at  other  times  every  one  gave 
his  vote  openly  and  audibly,  and  frequently  the  decision  was 
made  by  white  and  black  beans ;  now,  those  of  one  opinion 
went  to  one  side  and  those  of  a  different  judgment  to  the  other; 


BOLOGNA.  295 

then  one  party  stood  up,  and  another  sat  down ;  and  in  these 
cases  the  voices  were  counted  by  the  ministers  publicly.  The 
will  and  resolution  of  the  council  being  determined,  the  decree 
was  published,  and  recorded  in  a  book,  and  another  council 
could  not  be  convoked  till  this  decree  was  made.  A  number 
of  notaries  were  employed ;  some  to  write  the  speeches  and 
opinions,  others  to  publish  the  decrees,  and  others  to  receive 
the  laws.  Such  were  the  usages  of  the  councils  of  this  re 
public,  which  was  honored  with  the  name  of  commons,  or 
community. 

"  Of  the  magistrates,  some  were  ordinary,  others  extraordinary ; 
the  ordinary  were  created  and  deputed  every  year  in  the  repub 
lic,  and  were  called  the  magistrates  of  the  court ;  the  extraordi 
nary  were  those  who  were  deputed  for  some  extraordinary  busi 
ness.  The  principal  ordinary  magistrates  were  the  consuls  of 
the  community,  or  the  pretor  instead  of  them ;  the  consuls  of 
justice,  the  judges  of  the  community,  the  attorney-general,  the 
judges  of  appeals,  the  judges  of  new  crimes,  the  judges  of  the 
office  of  exiles  or  outlaws,  the  judges  of  new  causes,  a  judge 
who  was  the  executioner  of  sentences,  and  the  questor;  and  they 
all  had  their  soldiers  and  notaries.  The  extraordinary  were  the 
legates,  curators,  and  syndics. 

"  The  same  mode  was  observed  in  the  choice  of  consuls  as  of 
counsellors.  The  election  of  pretor  was  in  this  manner.  In  the 
month  of  September  the  councils,  general  and  special,  were  called 
together  at  the  pleasure  of  the  magistrate ;  but  before  they  con 
vened,  the  day  and  hour  that  each  tribe  was  to  go  out  to  the 
choice  by  lot  was  published ;  and,  in  the  manner  already  described 
in  the  election  of  counsellors,  the  forty  men  were  drawn  from  one 
and  the  other  council  assembled,  excluding,  however,  the  magis 
trates  ;  these  forty  suddenly  retired  to  a  secret  chamber,  where 
they  were  locked  up  from  the  consuls  of  the  state  and  the 
merchants  and  bankers,  that  no  one  might,  by  word  or  letter, 
corrupt  them;  and  if,  through  the  whole  night  and  the  next 
day,  by  consent  at  least  of  twenty-seven  of  them  they  had  not 
created  a  pretor,  they  lost  the  authority  to  elect ;  and  the  next 
day  the  pretor  convoked  the  general  council  and  the  council 
of  credenza,  and  from  one  and  the  other  were  deputed  forty 
men,  as  before ;  and  if  these,  to  the  number  of  twenty-seven, 
could  not  agree,  the  election  and  deputation  of  the  pretor  was 


296  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

referred  to  a  suffrage  or  joint  ballot  of  the  general  council  and 
council  of  credenza.  The  pretor  might  be  elected  from  any 
city,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  council,  provided  he  was  not  a  rela 
tion  of  any  of  the  electors  as  far  as  the  third  degree,  nor  pos 
sessed  a  real  estate  in  Bologna  or  its  territory,  nor  was  less  than 
six-and -thirty  years  of  age  ;  and  it  was  an  injunction  always  to 
elect  a  man  of  reputation,  virtuous,  noble,  and  wise.  Of  right, 
according  to  the  statute,  a  pretor  could  not  be  elected  from  the 
place  of  the  antecedent  pretor;  yet  this  was  sometimes  prac 
tised  ;  but  he  must  not  be  his  relation. 

"  The  election  ended  and  published  to  the  councils,  public 
letters  were  written  to  the  pretor  elect,  requesting  his  acceptance 
of  the  honor  that  was  offered  him ;  arid  upon  the  day  when  he 
made  his  entry  into  the  city,  he  was  met  and  honored  by  all  the 
people.  The  pretor  had  the  same  prerogatives  and  authorities 
which  the  consuls  had ;  and  therefore,  according  to  the  times,  the 
republic  was  governed  sometimes  by  consuls  and  sometimes  by 
pretors ;  and  sometimes  there  were  at  once  both  consuls  and  a 
pretor,  as  appears  by  instruments  signed  both  by  the  consuls  and 
a  pretor  in  the  years  1177  and  1179.  It  appears,  that  instead  of 
consuls,  the  citizens  sometimes  turned  to  an  election  of  a  foreigner 
for  a  pretor,  to  compose  the  discord  which  arose  between  those 
of  the  citizens  who  abused  their  liberty,  to  the  end  that  they 
might  call  delinquents  to  account,  and  punish  with  more  severity, 
and  not  fluctuate  so  easily  from  love  or  hatred,  fear  or  favor.  But 
because  for  the  most  part  the  pretors  were  not  skilled  in  the  laws, 
at  first  two,  and  afterwards  four  judges  of  the  law  were  called  to 
aid  them ;  and  the  pretors  were  decorated  with  high  hats,  long 
swords,  and  a  sceptre,  to  denote  their  power  (potestd) ;  and  from 
this  they  were  afterwards  vulgarly  called  podesta.  Besides  the 
consuls  or  the  pretor,  in  whom  resided  the  sum  total  of  the  re 
public  in  peace  and  war,  certain  other  magistrates,  as  has  been 
mentioned,  governed,  and  the  mode  of  electing  them  was  the 
same.  Two  tribes  were  called  out  to  the  lot  one  day,  and  the 
two  others  the  next ;  and  the  deputed  electors  were  prohibited 
to  choose  a  father,  son,  brother,  or  any  other  relation,  and  more 
over  such  as  were  inept,  unskilful,  or  incapable  of  such  govern 
ment  ;  and  according  as  any  one  was  elected,  he  was  proclaimed 
with  a  loud  voice  in  council.  To  obviate  all  frauds  which 
might  be  attempted,  the  ten  written  tickets  being  drawn,  all 


BOLOGNA.  297 

the  rest  were  examined  in  presence  of  the  council,  to  see  that 
there  were  no  more  than  the  law  allowed.  It  was  provided  by 
law,  that  no  one  could  elect  or  proclaim  a  magistrate,  who  did 
not  pay  twenty  pence  into  the  purses  of  the  treasury,  which  were 
exacted  by  the  pretor ;  and  it  was  forbidden  to  any  one  to  accept 
of  the  office,  if  he  had  not  been  out  of  it  one  year.  None  could 
be  elected,  but  by  that  tribe  in  which  he  had  his  domicil ;  and 
every  one  who  entered  on  a  magistracy,  took  an  oath  to  exercise 
his  office  with  integrity  and  fidelity. 

"  Besides  the  magistrates  already  mentioned,  there  were  those 
of  the  soldiery ;  the  mode  of  electing  whom  was  the  same,  but 
the  government  different.  The  command  in  chief  was  given 
to  the  consuls  or  to  the  pretor.  The  officers  of  the  army 
among  the  cavalry,  in  the  infantry,  of  the  people,  and  lastly 
of  the  carroccio,1  were  different.  The  officers  or  prefects  of 
the  foot,  of  the  horse,  and  of  the  people,  because  they  carried  a 
standard,  (gonfalone,)  were  called  gonfaloniers ;  and  each  one  in 
his  tribe  was  elected  by  his  fellows,  in  the  manner  before  de 
scribed.  Moreover,  some  citizens  served  on  foot,  and  some  others 
on  horseback  ;  and  those  who  performed  the  service  of  their  own 
accord,  did  it  more  willingly  than  when  deputed  by  commission 
of  the  magistrates  to  that  purpose.  Wherefore,  when  any  enter 
prise  was  undertaken  by  the  military  order,  every  one,  whether 
of  the  foot  or  the  horse,  according  to  the  necessity,  went  out 
under  his  own  standard  or  ensign ;  and  if  the  service  required  a 
greater  appearance,  each  gonfalonier  of  the  people  led  out  his 
own  tribe ;  and  then  it  was  said,  that  the  people  were  gone  out. 
It  rarely  happened  that  all  the  tribes  went  out  at  once ;  but  at 
one  time,  the  infantry  of  one  tribe;  at  another,  the  cavalry  .of 
another ;  now  one  whole  tribe,  and  then  another.  All  the  men 
were  enrolled  in  the  militia,  from  eighteen  years  of  age  to  seventy, 
at  which  age  men  were  released  from  all  public  offices,  so  as  to 
be  even  rejected  from  the  council.  And  if  by  accident  any  old 
man,  who  exceeded  that  age,  inconsiderately  entered  the  council, 
the  election  was  annulled.  In  every  parish,  those  who  kept  horses 
for  war  were  described  or  registered  in  companies,  by  deputed 
muster-masters.  These  companies,  some  of  which  were  regis 
tered  by  tens,  and  some  by  twenty -fives,  according  to  the  number 

1  See  page  199. 


298  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

of  the  soldiers  described  by  the  muster-masters,  at  certain  periods 
conducted  their  horses  to  officers  deputed  for  the  service,  to  be 
reviewed  and  approved;  and  notaries  took  down  their  names, 
with  their  furniture,  and  the  quality  of  the  horses. 

"  Military  expeditions  were  of  two  sorts ;  one  with  squadrons 
or  legions  of  light  horse,  the  other  with  regular  armies;  and 
great  was  the  difference  between  being  ordered  out  upon  an  ex 
cursion  of  troopers,  and  an  expedition  with  the  army.  Because 
of  the  frequent  excursions  of  the  cavalry,  it  was  ordained  that  in 
every  tribe  there  should  be  public  marshals  or  blacksmiths,  and 
every  master  of  a  burgh  should  have  ready  and  in  order  all  the 
instruments  for  shoeing  horses,  to  the  end  that  the  cavalry  pass 
ing  that  way,  and  having  occasion,  might  be  always  served.  The 
treasurer  paid  a  certain  stipend  to  every  magistrate,  and  kept  an 
account  of  the  public  revenues  and  all  expenses.  The  revenues 
consisted  in  tributes,  gifts,  and  tolls  or  customs.  The  gifts  were 
upon  the  gates,  bankers,  lands,  mills,  oxen,  &c. ;  and  if  the  reve 
nue  was  not  sufficient  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  a  tax  was 
imposed,  by  order  of  the  council,  upon  polls  and  estates,  accord 
ing  to  every  man's  possessions  and  incomes.  Thus  much  con 
cerning  the  ordinary  magistrates. 

"  The  extraordinary  were  always  elected  by  the  pretor,  as  the 
ambassadors,  directors  of  public  works,  and  the  syndics.  No 
magistrate  could  go  upon  an  embassy;  and  to  any  one  who 
was  sent  out  of  the  territory  upon  an  embassy,  they  assigned 
three  horses,  two  notaries,  and  one  cook.  If  the  embassy  was 
to  the  pope  or  the  emperor,  the  expense,  attendants,  and  ser 
vants,  were  ordered  at  the  discretion  of  the  council.  A  com 
mission  was  given  the  ambassador  in  writing,  and  the  whole 
legation  was  governed  by  instructions.  It  was  ordained  in 
general  terms,  that  no  one  should  petition  or  seek  to  be  created 
of  the  number  of  magistrates ;  and  if  any  one  was  known  to  seek 
it,  his  conduct  was  publicly  related  in  council,  and  it  was  re 
proached  to  him  as  the  greatest  infamy.  The  officers  of  state, 
with  the  title  of  podesta,  with  their  judges  and  notaries,  were 
elected  partly  from  the  mountains,  and  partly  from  the  plains  or 
low  lands.  The  castles  which  were  subject  to  the  Bolognese 
elected  also  their  own  consuls,  and,  when  they  were  commanded, 
went  to  war  with  them,  and  carried  various  standards.  All  the 
burdens  and  tributes  were  much  heavier  upon  them  than  upon 


BOLOGNA.  299 

the  citizens,  excepting  only  some  persons  who,  for  particular 
merit,  had  been  exempted  by  the  council. 

"  There  were  many  colleges  or  companies  in  the  city,  as  that 
of  the  merchants,  the  goldsmiths,  and  the  artificers.  The  mer 
chants  and  goldsmiths  created  their  own  consuls,  and  the  com 
panies  of  artificers  appointed  their  own  treasurers ;  and  those 
who  were  able  to  do  it  assembled  together  in  associations  for 
the  promotion  of  commerce  and  improvement  in  the  arts.  The 
people  and  the  city  afterwards  increasing,  there  were  elected 
certain  colleges  of  arms,  one  called  that  of  the  Lombards,  another 
detla  Branca,  and  another  del  Griffone ;  and  these  had  the  care 
of  the  arms  of  the  republic,  and  were  decorated  by  the  city  with 
many  privileges  ;  and  the  foreigners  who  were  of  these  companies 
were  made  citizens  of  Bologna,  if  they  had  been  householders 
in  the  city  ten  years,  and  might  be  of  the  council  of  the  commons, 
stewards  of  companies,  and  magistrates,  equally  with  other  citi 
zens.  The  greatest  part  of  the  laborers  in  the  country  were  slaves 
of  the  nobles,  from  which  servitude,  however,  they  were  after 
wards  liberated,  the  community  paying  a  certain  sum  of  money 
to  their  masters. 

"All  these  particulars  of  their  constitution  were  found  in  the 
ancient  customs,  or  the  privileges  granted  or  confirmed  by  the 
emperors,  or  in  the  decrees  of  the  councils,  or  in  the  laws  of  the 
city;  the  former  were  called  reformationi,  the  latter  statuti. 
The  decrees  were  those  ordinances  which,  at  the  prayer  of  the 
pretor,  were  adopted  by  the  councils,  or  made  by  him  and  ap 
proved  by  them.  The  laws  were  no  other  than  the  ordinances 
made  by  the  legislators,  who  were  called  statutieri.  No  ordinary 
magistrate  was  of  these  legislators,  but  they  were  deputed,  accord 
ing  to  the  wants  of  the  city,  from  time  to  time,  and,  after  the 
example  of  the  Athenians,  reviewed  the  old  laws,  and  altered, 
amended,  accommodated,  and  reformed  them,  according  to  their 
judgment.  The  laws  which  these  legislators  made  were  reported 
to  the  council,  by  them  recited  publicly  to  the  people,  and  written 
in  the  volumes  of  civil  law,  which  to  this  day  are  called  the  Sta- 
tuto.  This  constitution  was  preserved  till  after  the  year  1250. 

"  The  houses  were  of  wood,  without  much  ornament  or  skill 
in  architecture  ;  and  from  this  cause  they  were  frequently  exposed 
to  terrible  fires.  Among  all  the  buildings,  the  most  noble  objects 
were  the  steeples  built  upon  the  churches,  and  the  towers  built 


300  ON    GOVERNMENT. 

by  all  the  principal  citizens.  The  frequent  fires,  and  the  common 
calamities  of  Italy,  the  deluges  of  water,  and  the  frequent  exiles 
of  the  citizens,  are  supposed  to  have  destroyed  many  objects,  and 
buried  in  oblivion  many  facts  worthy  of  eternal  remembrance." 

There  are  greater  traces  of  an  artificial  and  scientific  legislation 
in  this  constitution,  than  in  either  that  of  Florence  or  Siena; 
nevertheless,  all  authority,  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial, 
was  in  one  council ;  for,  when  the  special  and  general  council 
met  together,  they  acted  as  one,  and  when  one  met  alone,  it 
acted  as  sovereign ;  the  podesta,  and  his  judges  and  notaries, 
were  only  deputies  of  the  council.  Although  so  much  pains  was 
taken,  by  mixing  lot  with  choice,  by  rotations,  and  other  prudent 
precautions,  to  prevent  ambition,  faction,  and  sedition  from  en 
tering,  all  was  ineffectual. 

Omitting  most  of  the  wars,  foreign  and  domestic,  we  may 
select  a  few  instances  from  whence  the  operation  of  this  form  of 
government  may  be  evinced. 

"  Henry  V.,  as  he  was  called,  but  of  Germany  the  Sixth,1  after 
his  succession  to  his  father  Frederick,  passing  through  Bologna 
with  Constantia  his  wife,  in  his  way  to  Rome  to  receive  the 
imperial  crown,  was  magnificently  received  by  the  people,  and 
entertained  by  Gerardo,  Bishop  of  Bologna,  in  the  bishop's  palace ; 
in  acknowledgment  of  his  kind  reception,  he  gave  to  Gerardo  the 
title  of  Prince,  which  was  afterwards  retained  by  the  bishops  of 
Bologna.  Henry  was  not  only  crowned  as  emperor,  but  with 
much  ceremony  invested  with  the  kingdom  of  the  two  Sicilies, 
as  the  inheritance  of  his  wife  Constantia. 

"  In  the  next  year,  Gerardo,  Bishop  of  Bologna,  by  his  favor 
with  the  emperor  and  the  pope,  and  the  privileges  he  had  obtained 
for  the  city,  was  grown  into  such  reputation  for  justice  and  virtue 
with  all  men,  that  he  was  constituted  pretor  with  great  popularity, 
and  in  the  beginning  of  his  dignity  he  contracted  a  friendship 
with  Albert,  the  Count  of  Prato,  and  made  a  treaty  for  mutual 
defence.  Gerardo  having  the  first  year  administered  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  be  thought  a  bright  example  of  a  good  and  mode 
rate  ruler,  seemed  a  little  afterwards  to  be  changed  in  his  whole 
nature,  began  to  desire  innovation,  and  openly  to  favor  the  pie 
beians,  oppressing  the  nobles  and  first  men  of  the  city.  Thi? 

1  Ghirardacci,  lib.  iv.  p.  101. 


BOLOGNA.  301 

gave  occasion  to  grave  disorders  and  seditions  ;  for  the  patricians, 
who  had  conferred  the  office  upon  him,  and  were  accustomed 
and  habituated  to  the  command  of  others,  could  not  easily  tole 
rate  this  injury  and  the  evident  partiality  of  the  pretor ;  so  they 
assembled  in  the  palace,  and  created  twelve  consuls,  men  of 
great  authority  in  Bologna. 

"  Gerardo,  hearing  of  the  election  of  consuls,  was  in  high  wrath, 
and  began  to  threaten  them  with  his  frown ;  but  they  quickly 
published  to  the  people  that  he  was  deposed  from  the  office  of 
pretor.  Giacomo  Orsi,  a  powerful  citizen,  and  a  favorer  of  Ge 
rardo,  collected  a  company  of  armed  men,  and  attempted  to 
oppose  the  resolution  of  the  consuls  and  patricians ;  whereupon 
Specialino  Griffoni,  not  less  celebrated  in  letters  than  in  arms, 
and  one  who  was  studious  and  intent  upon  maintaining  the 
republic,  turned  round  to  the  nobles,  and  harangued  them  as 
follows :  *  Is  it  consistent  with  our  duty  or  our  honor,  fellow-citi 
zens,  to  suffer  that  authority  which  for  three  hundred  years  and 
more  we  have  enjoyed,  of  directing  this  our  republic,  to  be  wrested 
from  us  by  a  private  person,  placed  by  us  alone  in  the  govern 
ment  of  it,  for  the  general  safety  of  the  city  ?  Shall  we  submit 
to  become  like  the  vilest  populace,  esteemed  of  no  importance  or 
authority,  and  subjected  to  that  Gerardo,  to  whom  we  are  and 
forever  shall  be  objects  of  jealousy  and  terror,  so  long  as  our 
republic  shall  remain  safe  and  sound  ?  Rouse  up  your  spirits  at 
once ;  never  think  of  bearing  this  insupportable  tyranny ;  and  let 
the  object  itself,  and  the  opportunity  of  the  moment,  stir  you  to 
this  enterprise,  infinitely  more  than  my  words ;  and  accept  of  me, 
according  to  your  pleasure,  either  as  a  soldier  or  a  captain  in  the 
service  to  which  I  am  willing  to  devote  my  soul  and  body.' " 

Amidst  all  this  aristocratical  thunder,  the  still  voice  of  reason 
and  experience  whispers  to  a  candid  reader  the  probability  that 
the  nobles  were  more  tyrannical  than  Gerardo ;  that  the  people 
were  impatient  under  it;  Gerardo  disposed  to  alleviate  their 
burdens ;  and  the  nobles  thence  alarmed  with  the  apprehension 
of  a  master  over  themselves,  rather  than  over  the  people.1 

1  Cette  premiere  indication  de  leur  jalousie,  ce  premier  appel  a  la  decision  des 
armes,  sur  les  droits  des  deux  ordres  rivaux,  etoit  cependant,  pour  eux-memes, 
d'un  bien  dangereux  exemple ;  car  ils  n'etoient  pas  les  plus  forts.  Le  peuple 
pouvoit  a  son  tour  recouvrer,  par  les  memes  moyens,  I'influence  qu'on  lui  ravis- 
soit,  il  pouvoit  les  chasser  eux-niemes  de  la  ville.  Sisrnoudi,  Rep.  ItaL  torn.  2, 
p.  285. 

VOL.  V.  26 


302  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  The  speech  being  ended,  he  seized  his  arms,  and,  accompa 
nied  by  the  consuls  and  the  greater  part  of  the  nobles,  marched 
to  the  bishop's  palace.  Giacomo  Orsi,  with  those  devoted  to 
him,  opposing  them  in  arms,  they  came  to  action ;  but  Giacomo, 
not  being  able  to  resist  the  impetuosity  of  the  assailants,  with 
great  difficulty  saved  himself,  with  Gerardo,  by  flying  from  the 
city.  The  consuls,  disappointed  by  their  flight,  were  the  more 
exasperated ;  and  seeing  Orsi  out  of  their  power,  they  declared 
him  a  rebel  against  the  republic,  confiscated  all  his  property,  and 
ordered  his  house  and  tower  to  be  razed  to  the  ground." 

Such  decision  delivered  the  city  for  the  present  from  this  vio 
lent  sedition,  and  with  as  much  virtue  as  that  which  delivered 
the  Roman  patricians  from  Maelius  or  Manlius. 

"But  the  next  year,  under  new  consuls,  although  it  appeared 
that  the  sedition  of  Gerardo  was  quieted,  and  that  no  disposition 
remained  for  innovation,  yet  all  on  a  sudden,  on  the  first  of  July, 
some  of  his  abettors  proceeded  from  words  to  blows  with  some 
of  the  adverse  party,  in  which  affray  Pietro  Scannabecchi  lost  his 
right  hand,  and  Scanriabecco  Ramponi  lay  mortally  wounded, 
among  many  others  both  killed  and  wounded.  The  day  after, 
both  parties  prepared  their  arms,  and  came  to  battle  again  in  the 
palace  of  the  community ;  when  Giuseppe  Occelletti  and  Tomaso 
Toschi  da  i  Gieremei,  supporters  of  Gerardo,  were  slain ;  where 
upon  the  consuls  were  again  obliged  to  take  arms  against  Ge 
rardo,  who,  having  taken  possession  of  a  castle  called  Sorresano, 
had  there  fortified  himself.  They  sent  out  Guglielmo  Malavolti, 
a  consul,  with  a  chosen  band  of  soldiers,  who  conducted  himself 
with  so  much  skill  and  bravery,  that  he  drove  Gerardo  from  his 
fortress,  and  burnt  his  castle.  In  a  short  time  the  Emperor 
Henry,  by  a  decree,  liberated  the  bishop  Gerardo,  whom  he  called 
his  Prencipe,  from  the  oath  of  calumny?-  and  permitted  him  to 
exercise  his  functions  in  all  his  causes,  and  those  of  the  bishopric, 
by  an  administrator,  or  other  legitimate  person. 

"  The  next  year,  1195,  it  seems  they  tried  the  experiment  of  a 
pretor  again,"  (that  is  to  say,  as  we  may  conjecture  the  family  of 
Gieremei  and  their  party  prevailed  in  the  public  councils  to  carry 
this  point,)  "  and  Guido  Cino  was  elected.  But  as  he  followed, 
in  his  administration,  the  steps  of  Gerardo,  after  having  done 


1  a 
calonnia. 


Henrico  per  Decreto  libero  Gerardo  in  tutte  le  cause  del  giuramento  della 
nia."     Tliis  was  an  oath  prescribed  by  the  civil  law. 


BOLOGNA.  303 

intolerable  things  against  many  persons,  he  was  dishonorably 
deposed  from  his  office,  and  accused  of  an  infinite  number  of 
iniquities ;  and,  attempting  to  fly,  he  was  made  prisoner  by  those 
whom  he  had  offended,  all  his  teeth  were  drawn  out  of  his  head 
for  his  punishment,  and  then  he  was  set  at  liberty.  In  his  place, 
Guido  da  Vilmercato,  of  Milan,  was  appointed. 

"  In  1202,  civil  discords  arose  in  the  city,  by  which  Bologna 
was  not  a  little  troubled  and  afflicted.  The  first  disorder  that 
occurred,  arose  from  an  ancient  enmity  between  the  Asinelli  and 
the  Scannabecchi.  These  two  factions  meeting  in  the  high  street, 
with  a  sudden  and  impetuous  onset  engaged  in  arms,  and  many 
were  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides.  This  quarrel  was 
composed  by  the  interposition  of  the  pretor  and  the  other 
nobles;  but  another  soon  arose  from  some  private  offence; 
for  Giovanni  Tettalasini  had  killed  Guido  Pepoli.  This  enmity 
between  these  two  families  continued  forty  years  before  it  was 
pacified. 

"In  1212,  upon  some  public  occasion,  among  a  great  con 
course  of  nobility  on  horseback,  Gieremia  Malavolti,  falling  from 
his  horse,  was  killed,  to  the  grief  of  the  people  and  the  em 
peror." 

And,  probably  to  the  equal  joy  of  the  nobility. 

"  In  the  year  1218  there  were  in  the  city  of  Bologna  ten  thou 
sand  scholars  at  the  academy  for  the  study  of  the  law ;  in  such 
reputation  was  that  university. 

" 1  The  quarrel  between  Frederick  the  emperor  and  Gregory  the 
pope,  revived  in  Bologna  the  party  distinctions  of  Guelphs  and 
Ghibellines,  drawn  from  Germany  in  the  time  of  Henry  IV. 
Not  only  some  cities  favored  the  emperor,  and  others  the  pontiff, 
but  in  the  city  of  Bologna  the  citizens  arrived  at  that  degree  of 
extreme  madness,  that,  in  hatred  of  each  other,  they  strove  to 
deprive  each  other  of  their  lives  and  fortunes  together.  Sons 
became  enemies  to  their  fathers,  and  brothers  to  brothers ;  and, 
as  if  it  was  not  enough  to  shed  then:  own  blood,  like  mad  dogs, 
they  proceeded  to  demolish  houses,  and  to  burning  the  cities, 
the  trees,  and  the  corn.  This  diabolical  pestilence  produced  such 
an  aversion  to  each  other,  that  they  studied  to  distinguish  them 
selves  in  alT  things ;  in  their  clothes,  in  the  colors  they  wore,  in 

1  Ghirardacci,  lib.  v.  p.  146. 


304  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

their  actions,  their  speech,  their  walk,  their  food,  their  saluta 
tions,  their  drink,  their  manner  of  cutting  bread,  in  folding  their 
napkins,  in  the  cut  of  their  hair,  and  innumerable  other  extrava 
gances  equally  whimsical.  A  plague  truly  horrible,  a  flame 
wholly  inextinguishable,  which  proved  the  extinction  of  many 
noble  families,  and  the  ruin  of  many  miserable  cities. 

"  The  next  year,  under  the  pretorship  of  Uberto  Visconti,  a 
cruel  war  arose  out  of  a  violent  sedition.  Godfrey,  Count  of 
Romagna,  favorite  of  Frederick,  took  Manzolino,  a  castle  of 
Romagna,  and  drove  out  from  it  the  prefect  of  Bologna.  This 
officer's  return  stimulated  the  people  to  a  violent  revolt,  because 
every  one  lamented  that  the  castle  had  been  lost  by  the  neg 
lect  or  misconduct  of  the  pretor,  and  that  of  those  who  governed 
in  the  city ;  and  in  such  manner  did  this  indignation,  conceived 
in  the  hearts  of  all,  increase,  that,  seizing  their  arms  against  the 
will  of  the  republic,  they  collected  together  in  the  piazza,  imme 
diately  made  one  Giuseppe  Toschi  their  leader,  a  man  not  only 
bold  but  rash,  and,  with  the  loudest  cries,  ran  tumultuously  to 
the  palace  of  the  pretor,  where  Giuseppe  demanded  the  standard 
of  the  people,  and  the  armed  guards  of  the  palace,  declaring 
that  he  would  go  out  and  meet  the  enemy,  and  prevent  his  com 
mitting  further  depredations  on  the  territory  of  Bologna.  The 
pretor  refused  his  demand;  but  Giuseppe,  consulting  only  his 
own  temerity,  broke  open  the  gates  of  the  palace,  forced  his 
entry  into  it,  ransacked  every  thing,  and  burned  all  the  papers  of 
the  pretor.  In  order  to  acquire  more  favor  with  the  people, 
he  turned  out  ah1  the  public  tables,  rung  the  bell,  contrary  to  the 
will  of  the  pretor  and  the  guards;  and  having  thus  collected 
all  the  people  armed  in  the  piazza,  he  had  the  carroccio  brought 
out,  and  ordered  all  things  for  a  war.  He  then  arranged  four 
thousand  infantry  under  Bornio  Gieremei,  whose  tool  he  proba 
bly  was,  eight  hundred  cavalry  under  Orso  Caccianemici  and 
Prendiparte  Prendi parti,  and  four  hundred  men  at  arms  under 
Alberto  Galluzzi  and  Lodovico  Ariosti. 

"  In  this  curious  manner  a  foundation  was  laid  for  a  change  in 
the  commonwealth,  and  an  institution  of  the  People.  They 
called  by  this  name,  The  People,  the  new  republic  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  people,  whose  superintendents  were  the  prefect  of 
the  people,  the  antiani,  the  consuls  of  the  merchants,  and  the 
masters  of  colleges.  According  to  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  antiani 


BOLOGNA.  305 

were  instituted  in  the  cities  of  Italy,  as  the  tribunes  were  in 
Rome,  that  they  might  take  the  part  of  the  plebeians ;  but  after 
this  Giuseppe,  whom  they  created  prefect  of  the  people,  no 
other  prefect  is  mentioned  till  1255.  The  Florentines  and  the 
Genoese  having  ordained  a  republic  of  the  people  about  the 
same  time,  introduced  also  the  prefect  of  the  people  and  the 
antiani;  and  this  popular  government  was  sustained,  with  its 
proper  councils,  to  whom  the  prefect  and  the  antiani  were  go 
vernors,  the  pretors  and  judges  of  the  pretors  remaining  as 
they  had  been  before  that  time ;  six  antiani  were  created  from 
all  the  four-and-twenty  tribes ;  and  the  use  and  creation  of 
these  antiani  continued  as  long  as  the  republic,  their  number 
only  being  increased,  as  well  as  that  of  the  consuls  of  merchants 
and  masters  of  colleges. 

i(  By  this  change  of  government  the  republic  became  involved 
in  two  wars  at  once,  with  Imola  and  Modena ;  and  the  people 
of  Bologna,  finding  their  affairs  not  succeed  to  their  wishes, 
rose  in  a  tumult,  and  killed  Rolando  Formaglini,  superintendent 
of  Piumazzo,  because  his  fortress  was  taken  by  the  enemy,  they 
having  suspicions  that  he  had  betrayed  it  for  money. 

"  The  animosities  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  mixing  with 
the  disputes  between  the  nobles  and  commons,  produced  such 
convulsions  in  all  the  cities,  especially  in  those  adhering  to 
Frederick,  that  in  Modena,  Reggio,  Parma,  Cremona,  Bergamo, 
and  Pavia,  those  who  favored  the  church  were  finally  expelled 
by  the  power  of  their  adversaries,  and  driven  into  exile ;  and 
Bologna  still  continued  to  be  agitated  with  seditions,  as  well  as 
with  disputes  with  the  bishop  and  the  pope,  by  whom  the  people 
were  excommunicated. 

"  In  1234,1  was  settled  the  controversy  with  the  bishop,  but  a 
greater  tumult  than  had  ever  been  known  arose,  on  account  of 
Alberto  Lambertazzi,  who  being  in  the  piazza,  and  seeing  Ga 
briel  Sanzio  his  enemy,  killed  him.  This  homicide  put  arms 
into  the  hands  of  a  multitude  of  citizens.  Although  the  pretor, 
not  having  the  criminal  in  his  power,  declared  him  an  outlaw, 
the  relations  and  friends  of  the  deceased  did  not  the  less  greedily 
watch  for  a  severe  revenge.  As  they  saw  that  the  party  of 
the  Lambertazzi  were  upon  their  guard,  and  went  about  pre- 

1  Ghirardacci,  lib.  vi.  p.  156. 
26*  T 


306  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

pared,  with  a  great  retinue  of  armed  men,  they  consulted  upon 
modes  of  getting  into  action.  Meeting  one  day  with  Alphonso, 
the  brother  of  Albert,  they  came  to  a  rude  scuffle  together,  in 
which  much  blood  was  shed,  and  more  mischief  would  have 
been  done,  if  the  interposition  of  the  pretor  had  not  interrupted 
it;  but  this  broil  was  the  beginning  of  discords  and  seditions 
which  lasted  a  long  time." 

The  hatred  between  the  most  considerable  families  had  grown 
so  inveterate,  —  having  continued,  with  few  interruptions,  for 
forty  years,  namely,  from  the  death  of  Guido  Peppoli,  —  that  much 
bloodshed  was  apprehended;  but  John  of  Bologna,  a  famous 
preacher,  coming  into  the  city,  preached  peace,  charity,  and 
benevolence,  to  his  immortal  honor,  with  so  much  success,  that 
a  kind  of  reconciliation  was  made  between  the  families  of  Del- 
fini  and  Malataschi ;  Torelli  and  Andalo ;  Griffoni,  Artenisii, 
and  Castel  de'  Britti ;  Galluzzi  and  Carbonesi ;  Lambertini  and 
Scannabecchi ;  Pepoli  and  Tettalasini ;  who  had  been  constant 
enemies;  and  several  intermarriages  were  contracted  among 
them. 

"  In  the  year  1244  is  found  the  next  mention  of  the  antiani  of 
the  people,  who  presided  in  the  instituted  republic  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  moderated  in  two  councils ;  one  called  the  little  coun 
cil,  which  they,  with  the  consuls  of  the  merchants  and  gold 
smiths,  masters  of  the  arts  and  of  arms,  the  gonfaloniers  of 
the  people,  and  of  the  colleg-i,  and  their  counsellors,  composed ; 
and  the  other  called  the  grand  council,  in  which  they  were  again 
found,  with  the  other  larger  number  of  counsellors  ;  and  all  that 
was  by  these  ordained  was  perpetually  to  be  observed  ;  so  that 
all  laws  were  made,  executed,  and  judged  by  the  majority  of 
this  single  council,  or  by  persons  deputed  by  them." 

The  same  original  and  essential  fault  that  had  occasioned 
their  miseries,  and  continued  to  increase  them. 

"In  1248,  secretly  making  great  preparations  for  war,  and 
calling  to  their  assistance  the  March,  Romagna  and  Azzo  da 
Este,  they  created  eight  noblemen  to  conduct  the  war  against 
the  Modenese  ;  these  were  Alberto  Galluzzi,  Lambertazzi,  Pren- 
•di parti,  Samaritani,  Scannabecchi,  Ariosti,  Guido  Gieremci,  and 
Cattellani.  For  captain-general  they  elected  the  Marquis  Azzo 
da  Este ;  but  he  being  infirm,  to  show  his  gratitude  to  the 
senate,  sent  them  three  thousand  cavalry  and  two  thousand 


BOLOGNA.  307 

foot.  Gieremei  had  command  of  half  the  men  at  arms,  and 
Lambertazzi  of  the  infantry." 

It  appears  from  this,  that  though  the  government  was  called 
popular  and  the  people,  that  the  people  was  no  more  than  an 
aristocracy,  and  that  the  nobles  were  not  excluded.  The  two 
families  of  Gieremei  and  Lambertazzi  were  very  near  the  head 
of  the  republic,  and,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  most  eagerly  contend 
ing  for  the  foremost  station. 

"  An  obstinate  battle  was  fought,  in  which  great  exertions  both 
of  skill  and  bravery  were  shown,  and  a  complete  victory  ob 
tained  by  the  Bolognese,  and  King  Hentio1  taken  prisoner.  In 
1254,  the  treaties  with  the  Marquis  da  Este  and  the  commons 
of  Ferrara  were  confirmed  in  the  council  general  and  special  of 
the  commons  of  Bologna.  The  next  year  the  republic  adorned 
itself  with  a  new  magistrate,  Ricardo  Villa  being  made  pretor ; 
but  because  the  pretor  was  the  superintendent  of  the  republic  of 
nobles,  which  was  called  The  Commons,  it  was  now  their  plea 
sure  that  there  should  be  a  prefect,  or  captain  of  the  people, 
who  should  govern  the  popular  republic  called  The  People. 
This  dignity  had  been  laid  aside  a  long  time,  though  it  had 
been  the  original  title  of  the  first  magistrate,  but  was  now 
revived,  and  Giordano  Lucino  was  elected  to  it.  Separating  the 
functions,  it  was  ordained,  that  the  pretor  should  have  the  au 
thority  and  jurisdiction  of  the  city,  and  be  superintendent  of 
the  councils  of  the  commons,  and  that  the  captain  should  ad 
minister  in  war  abroad  ;  that  within  the  city  the  councils  of  the 
people  should  govern,  and  confer  in  the  public  business  with 
the  antiani." 

"  In  the  year  1257,  a  transaction  was  completed,  which  alone 
ought  to  be  sufficient  to  immortalize  the  republic  of  Bologna. 
There  is,  among  the  records  of  that  city,  a  book  entitled  *  The 
Paradise  of  Pleasure,'  which  contains  the  decree  of  the  third  of 
June,  1257,  by  which  all  the  slaves  and  villains  were  manu 
mitted,  and  annually  taxed  in  a  certain  quantity  of  corn,  which 
was  consigned  to  the  care  of  an  officer,  already  instituted  and 
called  the  pretor  of  the  sack,  who  was  appointed  in  the  same 
manner  with  the  pretors  of  the  castles.  This  law,  at  first  pre 
pared  by  legislators,  was  recited  and  approved  by  the  councils 

1  The  son  of  Frederick. 


308  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

of  the  people,  assembled,  according  to  the  usage,  by  the  ringing 
of  bells.  The  record  is  in  substance,  — '  In  the  beginning  God 
Almighty  planted  a  paradise  of  pleasure,  in  which  he  placed 
man  whom  he  had  created  and  clothed  with  a  white  robe  of 
innocence,  giving  him  a  perfect  and  perpetual  liberty ;  but  the 
wretch,  unmindful  of  his  own  dignity  and  the  divine  munifi 
cence,  tasted  of  the  apple  forbidden  him  by  the  commandment 
of  Heaven,  and  thereby  dragged  himself  and  all  his  posterity 
down  into  this  valley  of  misery,  poisoned  the  human  race,  and 
most  miserably  bound  it  in  the  chains  of  diabolical  servitude ; 
and  thus,  from  incorruptible  it  was  made  corruptible ;  from  im 
mortal,  mortal ;  subjected  to  continual  vicissitudes  and  most 
grievous  slavery.  God,  however,  beholding  that  the  whole  world 
had  perished,  had  compassion  on  the  human  race,  and  sent  his 
only  begotten  son,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  who,  cooperating 
with  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  the  glory  of  his  own 
dignity,  breaking  the  bonds  with  which  we  were  held  captive, 
restored  us  to  our  primitive  liberty  ;  and  therefore  it  is  very  justly 
questioned,  whether  men,  whom  nature  from  the  beginning  pro- 
'duced  and  created  free,  and  the  law  of  nations  only  subjected 
to  the  yoke  of  servitude,  ought  not  to  be  restored  to  the  blessing 
of  manumission. 

" '  These  men  have  been  a  shame  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  In 
consideration  of  which,  the  noble  city  of  Bologna,  which  has 
always  fought  for  liberty,  recollecting  the  past  and  providing  for 
the  future,  in  honor  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  Redeemer, 
has  redeemed,  with  a  price  in  money,  all  those  who,  in  the  city  of 
Bologna  and  its  bishopric,  were  found  confined  in  a  servile  con 
dition,  and  after  a  diligent  examination,  decreed  them  to  be  free ; 
ordaining  that  no  one,  constrained  in  any  kind  of  slavery,  in  the 
city  or  episcopacy,  shall  dare  to  remain  or  be  detained  in  it,  to 
the  end  that  so  great  a  mass  of  natural  liberty,  redeemed  by  a 
price,  should  not  be  liable  to  be  corrupted  by  any  remaining  mix 
ture  of  slavery,  as  a  moderate  fermentation  corrupts  the  whole 
mass,  and  the  society  of  one  evil  depraves  many  that  are  good. 
In  the  time  of  that  noble  man  and  podesta,  D.  Accursius  of  So- 
rixana,  whose  reputation  spreading  far  and  wide,  shines  like  a 
star,  and  under  the  examination  of  D.  Jacob  Grataceli,  his  judge 
and  assessor,  whose  skill,  wisdom,  constancy,  and  temperance, 
recommend  him  to  all  men,  the  present  memorial  is  made,  which 


BOLOGNA.  309 

by  its  proper  name  ought  justly  to  be  called  PARADISE,  contain 
ing  the  names  of  all  the  masters  and  all  the  slaves,  both  male 
and  female,  that  it  may  appear  by  what  servants  and  maids 
liberty  is  acquired,  and  at  what  price;  to  wit,  ten  pounds  for 
those  of  more  than  fourteen  years  of  age,  whether  men  or 
women,  and  eight  pounds  for  all  under  that  age,  to  every  master 
for  every  one  whom  he  holds  in  servitude.  This  memorial  was 
written  by  me,  Conrad  Sclariti,  a  notary,  deputed  to  the  office 
of  servants  and  maids ;  and  may  it  remain  to  posterity  a  monu 
ment  of  this  transaction."  * 

Amidst  the  melancholy  gloom  of  factions  and  licentiousness, 
of  injustice  and  cruelty,  of  fraud  and  violence,  such  a  gleam  of 
humanity,  equity,  and  magnanimity,  is  refreshing.  It  shall  be 
left  to  our  own  reflections,  the  first  of  which  will  undoubtedly 
be  a  wish  to  see  a  paradise  of  pleasure  in  each  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 

1 "  The  temporary  reconciliation  of  the  nobles  had  produced 
prosperity  and  success  to  the  republic ;  but  as  the  constitution 
remained  the  same,  and  war  alone  had  preserved  the  benevolent 
impressions  of  John  the  preacher,  as  soon  as  that  was  over  the 
seditions  of  the  citizens  again  disturbed  all  their  quiet  and  feli 
city.  The  Galluzzi,  Lambertazzi,  Artenisi,  Britti,  Carbonesi, 
Scannabecchi,  all  noble  families  and  greatly  esteemed  in  Bologna, 
could  no  longer  restrain  their  passions,  and,  as  the  historian  very 
justly  observes,  God  knows  how  they  could  have  restrained 
them  so  long. 

"  The  Lambertazzi  were  the  first  to  set  fire  to  the  train  of 
jealousy  and  indignation,  hatred  and  revenge,  and  to  begin  the 
ruin  of  their  country.  Provoked  by  some  words,  reported  to 
them  by  their  flatterers,  and  perhaps  invented  or  exaggerated, 
they  took  arms,  and  coming  fiercely  to  action  with  the  Gierernei, 
a  great  quantity  of  blood  was  shed  on  both  sides ;  they  would 
have  proceeded  to  greater  extremities,  if  Ramponi,  a  man  in 
high  esteem,  had  not  dexterously  interposed,  and  by  his  wisdom 
and  courage,  brought  them  to  an  accommodation ;  yet  the  quar 
rel  continued  to  break  out  at  times,  and  prevailed  even  among 

*  Ghirardacci,  lib.  vi.  p.  194. 

In  a  copy  of  this  work  which  Thomas  Brand  Hollis  presented  to  the  author, 
he  specifies  the  recording  of  this  act  as  meriting  immortality  for  it. 
1  Ghirardacci,  lib.  vii.  p.  197. 


310  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

the  scholars.  One  of  the  tribunes  of  the  city  was  dangerously 
wounded,  and  Raimondo,  a  Genoese,  was  beheaded,  but  this 
did  not  end  the  disorder.  The  Galluzzi  and  Carbonesi  took  up 
the  dispute,  and  several  horrid  murders  were  committed,  and 
several  of  the  dependencies  of  the  republic,  taking  advantage 
of  the  opportunity,  or  excited  by  partisans,  rebelled." 

The  disorder  lurked,  however,  in  some  degree  of  secrecy  till 
1260,  when  it  broke  out  again,  and  the  parties  began  to  collect 
together  companies  of  idle  vagabonds,  and  on  a  thousand  occa 
sions  endeavored  to  come  to  action. 

"  Finally,  the  Gieremei  went  out  in  arms  against  the  Lamber- 
tazzi,  the  Galluzzi  against  the  Carbonesi,  the  Lambertini  against 
the  Scannabecchi,  and  the  Artinesi  against  the  Britti.  They  con 
tinued  engaged  a  long  space  of  time,  each  party  assisted  by  the  fa 
milies  of  its  adherents.  The  pretor,  with  all  his  court  and  forces, 
was  obliged  to  turn  out,  and  partly  by  his  menaces,  and  partly 
by  some  small  remains  of  reverence  for  authority,  he  put  a  stop 
to  this  most  sanguinary  and  horrible  rencounter,  and  obliged 
those  who  remained  alive  to  return  to  their  houses. 

"  In  1264,  these  intestine  broils  were  renewed,  particularly 
between  the  families  of  Lambertazzi  and  Gieremei,  and  while 
many  were  anxious  to  make  peace  between  them,  and  were 
occupied  in  contriving  the  means  of  it,  the  Lambertazzi,  little 
inclined  to  any  accommodation,  by  exerting  all  their  influence 
and  intrigues,  on  purpose  to  offend  the  Gieremei,  procured  that 
Peter  Pagani,  a  powerful  citizen  of  Imola,  should  be  made  lord 
of  it,  to  the  end  that  he  might  expel  from  thence  all  the  friends 
of  the  Gieremei,  and  demolish  all  their  houses,  a  commission 
which  he  fully  executed.  Imola,  thus  revolted  from  the  obedi 
ence  of  Bologna,  drove  out  Giacopino  Prendiparte  of  Bologna, 
or,  as  others  say,  killed  him,  who  was  commissary  and  governor 
in  the  name  of  the  city  of  Bologna.  This  action  so  displeased 
the  senate,  that  they  suddenly  sent  out  a  powerful  army  with 
the  carroccio,  under  the  pretor,  and  obliged  the  usurper  and  his 
men  to  evacuate  the  post.  But  before  this  enterprise  was 
finished,  another  tumult  happened  against  the  judges,  one  of 
whom,  Uguccione,  was  assaulted  and  killed,  and  the  parties 
were  again  upon  the  point  of  coming  to  a  bloody  decision,  and 
it  required  the  whole  court  in  arms  to  disperse  the  tumult. 

"  Before  the  end  of  the  year,  another  tumult  arose  in  Imola, 


BOLOGNA.  311 

where  the  Bricij,  principal  leaders  of  that  city,  favorers  of  Cujano 
and  Saffatello,  had  secretly  introduced  many  men,  and  drove 
out  of  the  city  the  Imindoli,  their  enemies  or  rivals.  But  the 
people  were  so  displeased  with  this  violence,  that  they  rose  upon 
the  Bricij  and  their  followers,  drove  them  out  of  the  city  at  the 
point  of  the  sword,  and  recalled  the  Imindoli.  The  senate,  on 
the  news  of  this  fidelity,  bestowed  the  highest  praises  on  the  peo 
ple,  and  to  reward  them,  by  removing  the  cause  of  such  incon 
veniences,  ordered  that  for  the  future  they  should  have  no  pretor 
at  all,  and  that  all  their  differences  should  be  brought  before  the 
pretor  of  Bologna,  to  be  adjudged  with  equity  and  celerity,  upon 
condition  that  they  should  pay  the  auditors  or  judges  who  should 
hear  their  controversies  five  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Ah1  this 
was  cheerfully  accepted  by  the  people  of  Imola,"  as  much  pre 
ferable  to  continual  quarrels  in  arms,  to  determine  whether  the 
Gieremei  or  Lambertazzi  should  have  the  appointment  of  one  of 
their  instruments  to  be  a  pretor  among  them. 

"  Clement  VI.  among  the  first  acts  of  his  pontificate,  invited 
into  Italy  Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  of  St.  Louis,  King  of  France ; 
and  Uberto,  Count  of  Flanders,  general  of  Charles's  army, 
passed  into  Italy  with  forty  thousand  men.  Bologna,  with  Milan, 
Bergamo,  Verona,  Mantua,  and  Ferrara,  joined  the  church  and 
France ;  four  thousand  men,  under  Guido  Antonio  Lambertini, 
a  noble  Bolognese,  joined  the  crusade  proclaimed  by  the  pope 
against  Manfred. 

"  The  Lambertini  indulging  their  enmity  against  the  Bocchetti 
laid  a  plot  one  day  to  kill  one  of  them,  and  thinking  to  find  him 
in  a  certain  place,  where  their  spies  had  informed  them  he  was, 
they  went  to  seek  him,  but  he  was  gone.  In  their  return  they 
met  one  of  the  Scannabecchi ;  letting  loose  their  malice  against 
him,  they  killed  him  and  fled.  The  pretor,  informed  of  their 
crime  and  flight,  issued  a  proclamation  against  them,  rifled  their 
houses,  and  to  intimidate  other  malefactors,  burnt  them  to  the 
ground.  Finding  by  these  continual  homicides  that  the  govern 
ment  was  too  weak  to  restrain  the  parties,  a  new  magistracy 
was  created  in  the  city,  of  three  men,  who  were  to  hear  and 
prudently  examine  the  differences  among  the  nobles,  and  endea 
vor  to  appease  them.  Andalo,  Malavolti,  and  Ramponi,  all  men 
of  great  candor  and  singular  prudence,  were  chosen.  Andalo 
was  of  great  authority  with  the  Ghibellines,  Malavolti  with  the 


312  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Guelphs,  and  so  was  Ramponi.  These,  without  respect  of  per 
sons,  judging  with  impartiality,  had  a  wonderful  effect  in  the 
city,  and  by  great  mildness  composed  many  discords  and  long 
enmities,  particularly  between  the  Asinelli  and  Scannabecchi, 
among  whom  a  great  deal  of  blood  had  been  spilled,  and  who 
had  been  a  long  time  enemies ;  and,  in  a  word,  brought  the  city 
to  a  degree  of  tranquillity. 

"  It  was  this  year  that,  hearing  of  the  defeat  and  death  of 
Manfred,  the  Ghibellines  in  Florence  began  to  tremble,  and  the 
Guelphs  to  triumph.  That  city  chose  two  pretors  from  Bologna, 
the  same  Malavolti  and  Andalo,  and  erected  their  council  of 
thirty-six  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  divided  the  city  into  seven 
greater  arts,  and  gave  every  art  its  gonfalonier ;  and  this  year 
Dante  the  poet  was  born. 

In  1267,  "  Charles  Calzolaio,  finding  a  young  man  in  Bologna 
in  bed  with  his  wife,  killed  him,  to  maintain  his  own  honor,  but 
was  taken  into  custody,  and  sentenced  to  death  by  the  pretor,  as 
one  who,  contrary  to  the  laws,  had  taken  justice  into  his  own 
hands.  This  sentence  appeared  to  be  unjust  to  the  other  Calzo- 
lai,  who  tenderly  loved  their  brother  Charles,  and  they  united 
together,  mutually  pledged  their  faith  to  each  other  to  rescue 
him,  and  taking  arms,  went  to  the  palace  of  the  pretor,  and 
forcibly  delivered  Charles  from  his  prison.  This  excited  in  the 
city  a  mighty  tumult,  and  so  intimidated  the  pretor,  that  he 
concealed  himself  in  a  place  of  safety.  The  commotion  sub 
sided  by  the  exertions  of  the  consuls,  and  the  fury  of  the  Cal- 
zolai  subsided  so  far,  that  the  senate  ventured  to  inquire  who 
were  the  authors  of  the  tumult;  but  the  heads  of  it  were  by 
this  time  escaped  from  the  city,  so  that  the  company  of  the 
Calzolai  were  only  fined  in  a  sum  of  money.  To  this  uproar 
succeeded  another  still  greater,  between  the  Lambertini  and 
Scannabecchi,  in  which  many  were  left  wounded,  and  many 
slain ;  among  whom  was  Bartolomeo  Guidozagni,  a  friend  of 
the  Lambertini.  This  tincture  of  blood  enkindled  the  minds  of 
the  two  parties  to  vengeance  to  such  a  degree,  that,  like  mad 
dogs,*  they  thought  of  nothing  but  persecution,  murder,  and  ex 
termination  ;  and  they  collected  their  friends,  both  within  and 
without  the  city,  together  to  this  effect.  The  consuls  in  office, 

*  Come  cani  arrabbiati.     Ghirardacci,  p.  212. 


BOLOGNA.  313 

to  whom  information  was  given  of  the  danger,  published  a 
proclamation,  that  no  man  should  be  introduced  or  let  into  the 
city,  if  he  were  not  previously  known  to  the  deputies  appointed 
to  superintend,  who  might  know  by  that  means  the  reason  of  his 
coming,  and  oblige  him  to  lay  down  his  arms.  This  prudent 
precaution  in  a  few  days  quieted  the  factions,  and  the  consuls, 
thinking  the  late  disorder  too  light  to  be  very  severely  punished, 
only  made  an  example  or  two  in  each  of  the  families,  by  con 
fining  one  of  the  Lambertini  in  Mantua,  and  one  of  the  Scan- 
nabecchi  in  Florence ;  and  because  the  consuls  saw  the  vio 
lent  enmities  which  prevailed  among  many  noble  families, 
which  were  in  danger  of  increasing  every  day  to  mortal  rancor, 
they  availed  themselves  of  the  resolution  and  prudence  of 
Andalo  and  Malavolti,  lately  returned  from  Florence,  by  electing 
them  to  compose  the  peace  of  the  city,  giving  them  ample 
powers  for  that  end.  And  this  measure  succeeded  so  far,  that 
the  Lambertini  and  Scannabecchi,  the  Gozzadini  and  Arienti, 
Guidozagni  and  Orsi,  Calamatoni  and  Sangiorgi,  Bianchetti 
and  Pizzigotti,  and  many  other  noble  families,  were  reconciled, 
in  the  presence  of  the  consuls  in  the  palace,  with  much  satisfac 
tion  to  the  whole  city.  But  as  no  measure  of  the  executive 
could  be  taken  without  offence  to  some  part  of  such  a  divided 
executive  authority,  the  consuls,  by  annulling  all  the  condemna 
tions  in  the  late  disturbances,  excited  the  indignation  of  the 
pretor  Dandolo,  so  that  he  resigned  his  office.  The  consuls,  who 
were  not  sorry  for  it,  appointed  Aurelio  Rocca  dalla  Torre,  of 
Milan,  in  his  stead." 

In  this  instance,  as  in  many  others,  before  and  after,  being 
obliged  to  appoint  a  foreigner  for  their  first  magistrate,  to  avoid 
the  certain  seditions  and  rebellions  that  would  have  been  excited 
by  the  adverse  party,  if  any  natural  born  citizen,  however  dis 
tinguished  by  merit,  had  been  raised  to  this  eminence,  among 
his  jealous  peers. 

"  In  1268,  Alberto  Caccianemici,  for  some  offensive  words  of 
his  nephew  Guido,  son  of  his  brother  Gruamonte,  which  were 
reported  to  him,  without  examining  the  truth  of  the  informa 
tion,  in  a  fit  of  impatience  for  vengeance,  called  his  two  sons  to 
him,  and  ordered  them  to  go  and  put  their  cousin  to  death. 
His  orders  were  executed  with  great  inhumanity."-  But,  in  such 
a  state  of  government  and  parties,  the  laws  are  overborne  by 

VOL.  v.  27 


314  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

popular  and  powerful  individuals,  and  there  is  no  justice  to  be 
had  against  them  in  a  regular  prosecution ;  so  thought  the 
people  in  this  case,  and  therefore  took  upon  themselves  the 
punishment  of  so  atrocious  a  cruelty,  by  rising  in  arms,  and 
demolishing  their  houses. 

"  In  1269,  another  instance  of  a  similar  but  more  important 
nature  happened.  The  captain  of  the  people  governed  severely 
in  his  office,  and  did  not  do  justice  to  the  people,  as  they  said ; 
and  this  provoked  the  wrath  of  the  people  so  far,  that  they 
deposed  him.  The  pretor  took  this  deposition  in  ill  part,  and 
thought  that  the  principal  authors  of  it  ought  to  be  punished, 
at  least  in  some  small  degree,  to  discountenance  such  irregu 
larity.  But  this  irritated  the  people  so  highly,  that,  perceiving 
his  danger  he  thought  it  prudent  to  fly ;  and  a  new  pretor,  as 
well  as  captain,  were  appointed.  Thus  the  discontented  nobles, 
although  they  could  not,  from  their  opposition  to  each  other, 
obtain  the  first  offices  in  the  state,  had  it  always  in  their  power? 
by  secret  machinations  with  the  people,  to  excite  tumults,  and 
distress,  embarrass,  and  depose  the  foreigners  who  held  them. 

"  There  is  an  example  of  generosity  in  the  gentlemen  of  Bo 
logna,  in  the  year  1270,  too  much  to  their  honor,  amidst  all  their 
quarrels,  to  be  omitted.  A  great  scarcity  prevailed  in  all  the 
cities  of  Tuscany  and  Lombardy,  and  the  people  of  Bologna 
were  reduced  to  extreme  misery  by  famine.  Upon  this  occa 
sion  all  the  noblemen,  and  other  rich  men  of  the  city,  had  the 
charity  to  open  their  stores,  and  expose  all  their  corn  and  grain 
to  the  people ;  and,  not  satisfied  with  this,  they  united  together, 
collected  all  the  money  they  had,  or  by  their  credit  could  borrow, 
and  offered  it  to  the  senate,  that  it  might  be  sent  to  Romagna, 
and  other  distant  provinces,  to  procure  a  supply  of  bread  for  the 
city.  This  benevolent  effort,  however,  produced  an  accidental 
ill  effect ;  it  occasioned  a  rivalry  in  the  markets  for  grain  be 
tween  Bologna  and  Venice,  which  produced  resentments,  re 
taliating  imposts  and  duties,  and  at  last  a  war,  in  which  the 
Venetians  were  conquered. 

"  But  the  city  of  Bologna  could  not  enjoy  its  triumphs  in 
peace  ;  malignant  spirits  in  secret  scattered  reports  and  calum 
nies  to  disturb  the  public  tranquillity,  sometimes  against  one 
illustrious  citizen,  and  sometimes  another.  These  rumors  coming 
to  the  ears  of  the  senate,  they  exerted  all  their  skill  to  discover 


BOLOGNA.  315 

whether  the  crimes  alleged  had  been  committed  or  not ;  but, 
after  all  their  diligence  found  no  evidence,  but  idle  suspicions. 
Nevertheless  the  senators  and  people,  taking  the  hint  from  these 
endeavors  to  excite  disorders,  judged  it  would  be  useful  to  create 
a  new  magistracy  of  three  men,  of  the  best  lives,  and  most 
wisdom,  to  preserve  the  quiet  of  the  city,  and  to  administer 
justice,  by  rewarding  the  good,  and  chastising  the  insolent  dis 
turbers  of  the  peace  of  others.  To  this  end  ample  authority 
was  given  them  to  bear  arms,  and  to  take  with  them  armed 
men;  to  imprison  delinquents,  and  accommodate  all  disputes 
which  should  arise ;  and  these  were  called  the  Magistrates  of 
Peace.  The  three  chiefs  divided  their  people  into  three  military 
classes ;  one  was  called  that  of  the  Lombardi,  and  to  this  was 
committed  the  red  standard,  with  the  figure  of  Justice  holding  a 
drawn  sword  in  her  hand  ;  the  second  was  called  the  Griffin,  and 
to  this  was  consigned  the  white  standard,  with  a  red  griffin ;  the 
last  was  called  delta  Branca,  to  which  was  allotted  the  white 
standard,  with  a  red  lion  holding  a  sword  in  his  right  paw. 
These  companies  were  greatly  esteemed  in  the  city,  and  much 
honored  by  the  senate,  who  granted  them  signal  privileges,  regis 
tering  the  magistrates  as  true  and  noble  citizens. 

"  While  this  new  magistracy  was  wholly  employed  in  the 
preservation  of  the  honor  and  peace  of  the  city,  and  daily  recon 
ciled  the  minds  of  the  citizens,  the  rancor  of  private  animosity 
broke  out  again  in  the  murder  of  Philip,  called  il  Bologna,  one 
of  the  company  delta  Branca,  by  Soldano  de'  Galluzzi,  who 
fled,  which  beyond  measure  displeased  the  senate  ;  not  having 
the  murderer  in  their  power,  in  order  to  give  complete  satisfac 
tion  to  the  company,  they  published  a  capital  proclamation 
against  him,  and  demolished  to  their  foundations  all  the  houses 
he  had  both  in  town  and  country.  By  this  exemplary  punish 
ment  alone  would  the  irritated  minds  of  the  company,  who  had 
arms  in  their  hands,  be  pacified." 

The  next  year  it  appears  by  the  records,  that,  besides  the 
pretor  and  captain  of  the  people,  four  and  twenty  wise  men 
(sapienti)  were  elected,  six  for  each  tribe,  out  of  all  the  tribes  of 
the  city,  by  the  antiani,  to  preserve  the  companies  of  the  city. 
They  elected  also  four  citizens  to  oversee  the  plentiful  supply  of 
the  city ;  and  five  and  twenty  other  wise  men  to  superintend  the 
fortresses  and  castles  in  the  country,  as  well  as  some  things  rela- 


316  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

tive  to  the  government  in  the  city.     All  these  inventions,  dic 
tated  by  distress,  and  the  feeling  as  well  as  fear  of  the  evils  of 
discord,  were  only  aggravations  of  the  evil,  as  they  only  divided 
the  executive  power  still  more,  without  dividing  the  legislative  ; 
whereas   the    direct  contrary  ought  to   have  been  the  remedy, 
namely,  they  ought  to  have  united  the  executive  power,  and 
divided  the  legislative,  and  by  that  means  have  produced  that 
trinity  in  unity,  which  is  neither  a  contradiction  nor  a  mystery, 
but  is  alone  efficacious  to  curb  the  audacity  of  individuals,  and 
the   daring  turbulence   of   parties.     The  judicial   power,  inde 
pendent  of  all,  is  able  to  encounter  any  man  or  combination  of 
men,  without  recurring  to  such  rigorous  measures,  inconsistent 
with  liberty,  as  these  new  magistrates  in  Bologna  were  obliged 
to  adopt.     In  order  to  purge  the  city  of  its  many  popular  disor 
ders,   they   were  obliged  to  forbid  a  great  number  of  persons, 
under  grievous  penalties,  to  enter  the  palace ;  nor  was  it  per 
mitted  them  to  go  about  the  city,  nor  to  bear  arms.     All  this 
they    were  obliged   to    do  to    prevent  collections  of  people  in 
the   streets.     Afterwards    some  of  the   first  people  of  the  city 
were  banished,  and  confined  to  certain  places  abroad,  and,  upon 
pain  of  death,  sentenced  to  depart  the  city  in  three  hours.     It  is 
provoking  to  read  the  perpetual  cant  of  these  historians,  such 
as,  that,  in  this  year  1273,  Bologna,  having  compelled  the  Vene 
tians  to  peace,  and  ruling  over  Imola,  Faenza,  Forli,  and  the 
castles  of  Romagna,  in  peace,  and  by  fear,  might  have  become 
great  and  glorious  by  the  valor  of  its  citizens,  if  civil  discords 
had  not  begun  again  to  commit  their  cruel  ravages.     These  dis 
sensions,  on  the  contrary,  proved  the  ruin  of  the  city,  and  were 
the  cause  that,  by  little  and  little,  she  lost  her  ancient  authority 
and  grandeur,  and  from  a  patron  she  became  a  client,  from  a 
mistress  a  subject ;  a  miserable  fall,  which  began  in  this  manner. 
"  There  were  in  Bologna  two  most  noble  families,  the  Giere- 
mei  and  the  Lambertazzi,  between  whom,  not  only  the  party 
prejudices  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  but  a  rivalry  for  power 
and  preeminence  in  the  state,  had  long  subsisted;   but  neither 
party  animosities  nor  family  jealousies   were   able  to   prevent 
Imelda,  a  daughter  of  Orlando  Lambertazzi,  a  most  beautiful 
young  lady,  from  entertaining  a  partiality  for  Boniface,  a  son  of 
Gieremia  de  Gieremei,  a  very  handsome  young  man,  who  was 
desperately  in  love  with  her.     This  mutual  passion  thus  increas- 


BOLOGNA.  317 

ing  in  their  hearts  from  day  to  day,  the  two  lovers  at  last  found 
an  opportunity  to  meet.  The  lady's  brothers  being  engaged  in 
some  amusement  at  the  house  of  the  Caccianemici,  having  in 
formation  of  this  interview,  went  to  their  sister's  chamber,  and 
finding  Boniface  there,  fell  upon  him  with  poisoned  weapons, 
and  in  an  instant  pierced  his  breast  and  his  heart,  their  mise 
rable  sister  flying  in  despair  from  their  fury.  Having  com 
mitted  the  murder,  they  concealed  the  body  in  a  sink,  which 
ran  under  some  apartment  in  the  house,  and  fled  from  the  city. 
The  murderers  having  departed,  Imelda,  full  of  apprehensions  and 
terrible  presages  of  what  she  should  discover,  ventured  to  return 
to  her  chamber,  and  seeing  upon  the  floor  a  rivulet  of  blood,  she 
followed  its  direction,  and  opening  the  place  where  her  lover  lay 
she  threw  herself  on  the  delicate  body,  still  warm  and  bleeding, 
and  distracted  with  tenderness  and  grief,  applied  her  lips  to  his 
wounds,  and  drew  in  the  poison  with  his  blood ;  and  whilst 
sorrowfully  lamenting  the  loss  of  her  lover,  the  poison  spread 
over  her  whole  frame  to  her  heart,  and  Imelda  fell  dead  in  his 
arms." 

A  catastrophe  so  tragical  could  not  be  recited  on  a  stage  with 
out  affecting  in  the  most  sensible  manner  the  most  unfeeling 
audience.  The  discovery  of  it  to  the  public  in  Bologna  could 
not,  one  would  think,  but  melt  the  most  obdurate  heart  of  fac 
tion,  and  soften  the  savage  monster  to  humanity ;  but  the  effect 
of  it  was  so  contrary  to  this,  that  it  wrought  up  the  hatred  be 
tween  the  two  factions  to  a  mortal  contagion,  which  increased 
and  spread  till  it  ruined  and  enslaved  the  republic. 

"  Whilst  the  unfortunate  fate  of  Boniface  and  Imelda  depressed 
the  spirits  of  the  two  noble  families,  the  senate  understanding 
that  the  city  of  Forli  had  rebelled,  and  that  the  Aigoni,  according 
to  the  stipulation,  were  not  restored  to  their  country,  called  the 
council  together,  and  the  question  was  proposed,  Whether  they 
ought  first  to  march  against  the  rebels  of  Forli,  or  merely  to 
restore  the  Aigoni  to  Modena  ?  The  Lambertazzi  advised,  that 
the  first  attention  should  be  given  to  the  cause  of  the  Aigoni ; 
and,  on  the  contrary,  the  Gieremei  advised,  that  they  should 
first  endeavor  to  subjugate  Forli.  The  parties,  not  agreeing  in 
opinion,  they  began  to  fall  into  confusion.  Finally,  the  council 
of  the  Gieremei  prevailing,  the  army  was  sent  out,  and  laid  close 
siege  to  Forli. 

27* 


318  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  The  following  year,  the  senate,  having  much  at  heart  the 
reduction  of  Forli,  resolved,  in  order  to  chastise  so  great  a  diso 
bedience,  to  order  out  the  carroccio,  and  all  their  army.  The 
pretor  entered  the  senate  to  take  leave  for  his  departure  to  the 
war,  and  there  found  Antonio  Lambertazzi  laboring  to  convince 
them  that  the  enterprise  against  Forli  would  not  succeed.  After 
having  urged  many  arguments,  he  began  to  speak  slightingly  of 
the  honor  of  the  Gieremei,  who  had  carried  this  point  against 
him.  Gieremeo  Gieremei,  who  was  present,  provoked  at  his 
insolence,  gave  him  the  lie,  and  by  mutual  agreement  they  went 
out  of  the  palace  into  the  piazza,  where  they  drew  their  swords 
and  began  to  combat.  A  great  crowd  of  the  two  factions  soon 
gathered  about  them,  and  fell  to  fighting  all  together,  so  that 
much  blood  was  shed,  and  the  battle  grew  more  hot,  and  greater 
numbers  collected ;  when  Gozzadini  and  Cavaliere,  with  many 
others  interfered,  parted  the  combatants,  and  the  Lambertazzi 
returned  to  their  houses.  The  pretor,  who  went  with  the  people 
to  the  tumult,  wishing  to  put  some  restraint  of  fear  upon  both 
parties,  ordered  four  of  the  houses  of  each  party  to  be  demo 
lished  ;  but  this  severity  had  little  or  no  effect ;  for  having  grown 
more  bitter  than  ever  against  each  other,  they  were  almost  every 
day  in  arms  and  action  together.  As  this  revolt  was  already 
divulged  to  the  circumjacent  cities,  the  companies  della  Branca, 
of  the  griffin,  and  of  the  Lombardi,  understanding  that  the 
Guelphs  of  Modena,  and  the  Ghibellines  of  Forli,  intended  to 
come  in  to  the  aid  of  the  two  parties,  took  arms  and,  together 
with  the  people,  posted  themselves  to  guard  the  passages  of  the 
city  ;  receiving  intelligence  that  the  Guelphs  of  Modena  were 
on  their  march,  they  went  out  to  meet  them,  and  put  them  to 
flight  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  The  Count  da  Panigo,  who 
had  armed  himself  in  favor  of  the  Lambertazzi,  hearing  of  this 
defeat  of  his  friends,  made  his  escape  from  the  city ;  but  his 
people  were  put  to  the  sword  by  the  company  della  Branca,  who 
afterwards  razed  to  the  ground  all  the  houses,  not  only  of  the 
count,  but  of  his  followers.  The  Ghibellines  from  Forli,  friends 
of  the  Lambertazzi,  hearing  of  the  slaughter  of  the  Modenese 
and  the  followers  of  the  count,  made  by  the  soldiers  della  Branca, 
suddenly  retreated.  These  civil  wars  in  Bologna  were  scarcely 
divulged  abroad,  when  all  Romagna,  taking  advantage  of  the 
occasion,  rebelled ;  and  for  this  reason  the  senate,  together  with 


BOLOGNA.  319 

the  pretor  and  the  companies,  posted  themselves  at  all  the  ways, 
to  make  peace  between  these  two  factions ;  in  which  enterprise 
they  fortunately  at  length  succeeded,  and,  after  much  reasoning 
and  persuasion,  they  obtained  hostages  from  both  sides,  and  thus 
the  city  was  quieted. 

"  While  this  peace  was  in  treaty,  the  principal  heads  of  the 
rebellion  of  Imola,  of  Faenza,  and  of  Salarolo,  dreading  the 
resentment  of  the  Bolognese  at  Forli,  saved  themselves  by  flight. 
The  Bolognese  were  indeed  formidable,  for  they  were  collecting 
a  powerful  army  to  march  into  Romagna.  When  it  was  embo 
died,  and  the  pretor  of  Bologna  attempted  to  go  out  upon  the 
campaign,  Antonio  Lambertazzi,  forgetting  his  plighted  faith, 
and  disregarding  the  fate  of  'the  hostages  delivered,  flew  out 
again  in  arms  to  prevent  the  carroccio  from  going  out,  and  re 
commenced  a  plentiful  effusion  of  blood.  This  sedition  was  the 
most  terrible  of  any  that  had  ever  yet  happened ;  it  lasted  forty 
days  without  intermission ;  so  that  Bologna  became  a  haunt  of 
murderers,  and  the  streets  ran  down  with  human  blood ;  the  pro 
perty  of  all  men  was  subjected  to  depredation,  the  edifices  were 
ruined,  and  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  city  trodden  under  foot. 

"  The  Lambertazzi,  at  last  overcome,  fled  the  city,  with  all 
their  accomplices,  and  went  to  Faenza,  leaving  their  houses  and 
palaces  a  prey  to  the  people,  which,  shortly,  were  all  levelled 
with  the  ground;  and  because  the  pretor  and  captain  of  the 
people  had  always  held  a  good  understanding  with  the  Lamber 
tazzi,  they  were  now  deposed  from  the  magistracy,  although  it  is 
universally  agreed  that  the  judgment  and  decrees  of  the  former 
were  unexceptionably  impartial  and  upright.  Fifteen  thousand 
citizens  were  banished,  whose  names  are  distinctly  written  in  a 
book  among  the  records  in  the  chamber  of  Bologna.  These 
persons,  scattered  in  various  places,  planted  new  families,  as  the 
Guerrini  in  Forli,  the  Bazzani  and  Sacchi  in  Parma,  the  Malpi- 
ghi  in  Lucca,  the  Carrari  in  Ravenna,  the  Buoninsegni  in  Terni, 
the  Maffei  in  Rome,  the  Bagarotti  in  Placentia  and  Padua; 
from  which  families  have  arisen  men  famous  both  in  arms  and 
letters.  The  Lambertazzi  sought  an  asylum  in  Faenza  and  in 
Forli,  and  fortified  themselves  in  both  those  cities ;  but  the  Gie- 
remei,  not  content  with  having  driven  them  out  of  the  city, 
endeavored  to  chase  them  from  the  places  where  they  were 
received;  wherefore,  that  they  might  not  be  taken  by  surprise, 


CCO  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

they  sent  to  their  friends  in  every  place,  particularly  to  the  Count 
di  Montefeltro,  the  Counts  of  Modiana,  and  to  others  of  their 
faction,  for  succor.  The  banished  citizens  of  Ravenna,  being 
united  with  those  of  Forli,  Ariminum,  and  other  places,  went  to 
Forli,  arid  from  thence  to  Faenza,  and  there  fortified  themselves, 
and  a  little  afterwards  drove  out  the  Manfredi ;  and  passing  after 
wards  to  Castel  San  Piero,  and  from  thence  to  Salarolo,  where 
the  Manfredi  had  resorted,  and  having  taken  the  castle,  many  of 
their  enemies  were  put  to  death,  and  many  made  prisoners  and 
sent  to  Forli,  among  whom  was  Alberico  Manfredi. 

"At  Bologna,  many  of  the  faction  of  Lambertazzi  were  impri 
soned  ;  and  as  a  report  was  spread  that  a  powerful  succor  was 
arrived  to  the  Gieremei,  the  Lambertazzi,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  fled  to  the  mountains,  and  from  thence  to  Faenza, 
where,  with  the  assistance  of  their  friends,  they  began  to  collect 
forces.  The  Gieremei,  receiving  information  that  the  Lamber 
tazzi  were  preparing  to  return  to  Bologna,  consulted  in  council 
upon  the  project  of  going  out  first  in  search  of  them.  The  reso 
lution  was  taken  with  great  precipitation,  and  they  marched  out 
with  the  carroccio  with  great  spirit  to  Romagna.  The  Ghibel- 
lines,  who  were  apprized  of  their  approach,  went  out  suddenly 
to  meet  them  in  arms,  and  the  Guelph  party  were  defeated, 
leaving  three  of  the  Gieremei  dead  upon  the  field,  and  Alber- 
ghetto  Manfredi  mortally  wounded  and  a  prisoner.  This  reverse 
of  fortune  spread  a  terror  in  Bologna ;  but,  dreading  a  total  loss 
of  their  city,  they  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  fortify  it, 
and  had  recourse  again  to  their  confederates  and  friends,  and  in 
a  short  time  assembled  a  strong  army.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enu 
merate  all  the  places  and  parties  from  whence  each  side  drew 
its  aids  ;  but  the  carroccio  again  went  forth,  and  was  again  met 
by  the  Lambertazzi  and  their  allies,  when  another  terrible  engage 
ment  ensued,  and  again  the  Lambertazzi  remained  victorious. 
Two  thousand  men  were  slain,  among  whom  were  a  great  num 
ber  of  the  principal  nobles.  The  Lambertazzi  pursued  their  vic 
tory  into  the  territory  of  Bologna,  where  they  put  every  thing  to 
fire  and  sword,  destroying  vines,  trees,  corn,  and  houses,  and  took 
a  great  number  of  castles,  and,  it  is  supposed,  might  have  made 
themselves  masters  of  the  city,  such  was  the  panic  in  it,  with 
out  striking  another  blow ;  but,  thinking  they  had  done  enough 
for  the  present,  they  returned  to  Faenza. 


BOLOGNA.  321 

"  The  Bolognese,  finding  their  affairs  unfortunate,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  deliberated  on  sending  to  King  Charles  for 
assistance,  and  two  ambassadors  accordingly  went,  Passaggieri 
and  Prendiparti.  Many  citizens  displayed  their  public  spirit  in 
defence  of  the  city  and  senate,  and  subscribed  large  sums  to 
defend  their  liberty ;  Passaggieri,  for  example,  was  so  attached 
to  the  Gieremei,  that  he  gave  six  thousand  pounds  for  the  com 
mon  good.  The  senate  by  proclamation  ordered,  that  every 
citizen  possessed  of  a  horse  should  have  him  recorded  in  a  book, 
that  they  might  know  what  assistance  the  militia  might  have  in 
case  of  extremity,  and  the  name  of  every  man  who  then  owned 
a  horse  is  very  carefully  preserved  as  a  family  distinction. 

"  The  Lambertazzi,1  after  their  victory  over  the  Gieremei,  did 
not  fail  to  make  incursions  into  the  country  of  Bologna  every 
day,  disturbing  now  one  place,  and  then  another,  in  such  a 
manner,  that  there  was  not  a  castle,  village,  or  city,  of  that 
party,  that  was  not  infested,  or  threatened  with  their  arms. 
The  Bolognese,  apprehensive  that  the  evil  might  extend  itself 
too  far,  and  that  the  people,  wearied  with  so  many  calamities, 
might  revolt,  and  having  before  their  eyes  what  Rodolph  the 
emperor  had  done,  they  began  to  meditate  a  surrender  of  the 
city  to  the  pope ;  ambassadors  were  appointed,  who  were  court 
eously  received,  and  their  petition  attended  to,  at  Viterbo. 
The  pope  was  vastly  pleased  with  the  submission  of  Bologna, 
and  she  acknowledged  the  church  and  the  pontiff  for  her  patron. 
The  instrument  is  dated  twenty-ninth  July,  1278,  by  which  the 
ambassadors,  'in  the  name  of  God,  and  of  the  podesta,  captain, 
council,  and  commons,  recognize  the  dominion,  diction,  law, 
jurisdiction,  power,  and  principality  of  the  city,  territory,  and 
district  in  St.  Peter,  the  keeper  of  the  key  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  in  Nicolas  III.,  and  his  successors,  Roman  pon 
tiffs,  reserving  the  laws  and  rights  of  the  city,  territory,  and 
district.' 

"Although  the  Gieremei  discovered  an  obstinate  aversion  to 
any  kind  of  peace  or  reconciliation  with  the  Lambertazzi,  the 
pope  conceived  a  great  desire  of  uniting  Romagna  and  Bologna 
in  his  interest,  and,  after  long  negotiations  to  that  purpose,  he 
succeeded  in  persuading  both  parties  to  listen  to  his  proposals, 

1   Ghirardacci,  lib.  viii.  p.  233. 
U 


322  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

and  submit  to  his  decision.  The  constitution  of  the  pope  Nicolas 
III.,  '  upon  the  reformation  of  the  peace  of  the  Bolognese,  to 
wit,  the  Gieremei  and  Lambertazzi,'  was  made,  and  the  pri 
soners  on  both  sides  set  at  liberty  ;  and  in  1279,  the  two  factions 
of  Gieremei  and  Lambertazzi  were  assembled  once  more  in  the 
piazza  of  Bologna,  in  presence  of  the  cardinal  legates  of  the 
pope,  appearing  in  great  pomp  and  splendor.  The  families  of 
the  party  of  the  Lambertazzi  and  of  that  of  the  Gieremei  were 
all  recorded  by  name,  and,  after  long  orations  made  by  the  car 
dinals,  the  instruments  were  signed,  and  the  oaths  of  perpetual 
peace  and  friendship  taken  by  them  all." 

The  proceedings,  as  they  remain  on  record,  are  very  volumi 
nous,  and  it  is  not  possible  a  peace  should  be  made  with  more 
solemnity  or  less  reserve ;  but  of  what  avail  are  pious  exhorta 
tions,  charitable  resolutions,  or  solemn  oaths,  against  inveterate 
passions  in  unbalanced  governments  ? 

In  1280,  "the  Lambertazzi,  who   could  not  live  under   the 
operation  of  the  secret  venom  of  their  personal  hatreds,  which 
daily  corroded  their  hearts,  making  little  account  of  the  peace 
made,  or   the    penalties   imposed,  burning  with    desire    to  im 
brue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the   Gieremei,  having   taken 
their  arms,  flew  to  the  piazza,  and  finding  there  a  great  number 
of  their  enemies,  fell  upon  them  with  a  sudden  fury ;  after  a  long 
combat,  they  pushed  the  Gieremei  out  of  the  piazza,  and  made 
themselves  masters  of  it,  and  would  have  easily  possessed  the 
palace,  if  the  captain  with  two  thousand  men,  had  not  rushe'd 
into  the  midst  of  the  danger,  and  with  the  Caccianemici,  Lam- 
bertini,   Ariosti,   Prendiparti,  and  other  friends,   opposed   them, 
and,  at   the    point  of  the   sword,  driven  them   back,  and  pur 
sued    them  out  of  the   city.     The    battle    on    both    sides   was 
bloody,  and  many  principal  men  were  killed  in  it,  after  perform 
ing  prodigies  of  valor.      The    Lambertazzi,   thus  again  driven 
from  the  city  with  their  arms,  retired  to  the  mountains  with 
great  loss,  and  the  Gieremei  proceeded  to  the  old  work  of  ruin 
ing  their  houses,  within  and  without  the  city ;  and  having  issued 
a  proclamation  against  a  great  number,  they  sent  others  into 
confinement,   according  to   the  usage   in    such  cases    in    those 
times.     Berthold,  the  count  of  Romagna,   the  pope's    nephew, 
immediately  summoned  all  parties  to  appear  before  him,  and 
give  an  account  who  were  the  aggressors  in  the  late  revolution, 


BOLOGNA.  323 

and  prevailed  upon  the  Gieremei  and  Lambertazzi  to  give  hos 
tages  to  perform  the  award  for  settling  their  differences;  but 
before  the  affair  could  be  finished  the  pope  died,  and  Berthold 
restored  the  hostages  to  the  Guelphs,  but  the  Lambertazzi  not 
acting  to  his  satisfaction,  he  carried  theirs  to  Rome. 

"  Bologna  now  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  Gieremei,  four 
officers  were  immediately  created,  whose  duty  it  was  to  preserve 
the  peace  of  the  city,  and  to  them  was  given  the  highest  possi 
ble  authority  ;  and  they  began  their  operations  with  so  much 
prudence  and  firmness,  that  their  proceedings  gave  great  satis 
faction  to  the  citizens,  and  with  whatever  they  ordered  or  de 
sired  the  people  complied  with  affection  and  confidence,  except 
ing  some  of  the  followers  of  the  Lambertazzi,  who  not  being 
able  to  bear  the  sight  of  the  city  at  peace,  while  their  party 
were  driven  out  of  it,  began,  by  slow  degrees  and  secret  prac 
tices,  to  consult  of  measures  to  make  themselves  masters  of 
it,  and  restore  their  banished  party.  For  many  days  they 
discoursed  together  in  secret  upon  this  project,  and  hoping  that 
fortune  might  for  once  favor  and  assist  them,  they  determined 
finally  to  assault  the  piazza ;  and  because  all  the  city  was  in  se 
curity,  and  h'ved  in  peace,  they  readily  persuaded  themselves,  that 
by  surprise  their  design  would  succeed.  One  day,  at  the  hour 
of  dinner,  issuing  out  in  arms,  and  crying  with  a  lively  accent, 
The  people  and  the  church  !  they  seized  on  the  two  mouths  of 
the  piazza.  The  Gieremei,  as  soon  as  they  were  alarmed,  ran 
out  with  the  people  in  general  with  arms  in  their  hands,  and 
coming  to  a  fierce  engagement  with  their  enemies,  after  a  plenti 
ful  effusion  of  blood,  drove  them  out  of  the  city  to  the  moun 
tains,  to  go  from  thence  to  Faenza  and  dwell  with  their  friends. 

"  The  city  of  Bologna  now  purified  of  all  tumults,  the  senate 
attended  to  the  fortification  of  all  the  fortresses  and  castles  in 
the  country,  placed  strong  garrisons,  and  furnished  plenty  of 
provisions,  and  all  things  necessary ;  and  the  commanders  placed 
in  them,  we  may  well  suppose,  were  all  good  Guelphs  and  Gie- 
remeites.  The  Lambertazzi  having  taken  refuge  in  Faenza,  and 
partly  in  Forli,  those  who  were  in  Faenza,  following  the  activity, 
ardor,  and  boldness  of  their  genius,  began  to  live  with  so  much 
liberty,  that  it  appeared  as  if  Faenza  was  their  own.  This  con 
duct  was  observed,  and  excited  not  only  much  'censure,  but  the 
greatest  malevolence  in  the  citizens,  and,  among  others,  in  Tibal- 


324  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

dello  Zambrasio,  one  of  the  most  noble  in  Faenza.  This  noble 
man,  seeing  himself  exposed  to  the  ridicule  of  the  town,  on 
account  of  a  pig  which  the  Lambertazzi  had  made  so  free  as  to 
take  from  him,  and  because  they  had  threatened  his  life  for 
demanding  the  restoration  of  it,  grew  into  such  a  rage,  that  he 
swore  he  would  lose  his  life,  or  have  satisfaction.  After  talking 
much  of  various  projects,  he  at  last  determined  upon  one 
which  he  had  never  talked  of  at  all.  He  pretended  to  be 
seized  with  a  melancholy  humor;  went  strangely  out  of  his 
house  sometimes,  flying  the  company  of  his  friends  and  rela 
tions  ;  appearing  in  the  streets  uncommonly  thoughtful ;  some 
times  talking  to  himself  of  a  variety  of  things,  and  muttering 
imperfect  sentences.  Having  held  this  course  of  life  for  some 
days,  his  infirmity  became  divulged  through  the  whole  city.  In 
a  few  days  more,  without  confiding  his  secret  to  his  father  or 
any  other,  he  counterfeited  the  part  of  a  complete  idiot ;  and  his 
behavior  was  so  wild,  whimsical,  and  extravagant,  that  he  ap 
peared  both  to  his  father  and  brother  to  be  wholly  bereaved  of 
his  understanding.  It  threw  his  family  into  distress,  and  the 
whole  city  into  the  utmost  astonishment,  to  see  a  nobleman  who 
had  ever  shown  so  much  prudence  as  to  be  held  in  high  esteem, 
fallen  suddenly  into  such  misfortune  and  disgrace,  though  so 
worthy  of  compassion.  In  a  few  days  more  he  took  from  his 
own  farm  an  old  mare,  wholly  worn  out,  and  reduced  to  a  mere 
skeleton ;  and  having  shaved  her  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  trans 
formed  her  into  such  an  object  as  excited  the  laughter  of  every 
one  who  saw  her.  In  this  condition  he  led  her  into  the  city, 
and  there  turned  her  loose.  The  boys  soon  collected  about  the 
animal,  and  beat  and  terrified  her  till  she  ran,  with  all  the  strength 
and  spirit  that  remained  in  her,  throughout  the  whole  city,  and 
occasioned  a  general  hubbub  wherever  she  went. 

"  The  Lambertazzi,  knowing  nothing  of  the  notorious  fact, 
any  more  than  of  the  secret  motive,  were  alarmed  with  suspi 
cions  that  their  enemies  were  rising,  seized  their  arms,  and  ran 
about  to  every  place  where  they  heard  the  loudest  shouts  and 
noises.  Finding  it  was  only  an  idle  populace  insulting  Tibal- 
dello's  mare,  they  joined  with  others  in  the  laugh,  and  returned 
to  their  houses.  The  same  pageantry  having  been  repeated 
more  than  once  afterwards,  the  Ghibellines  became  so  secure, 
that  when  they  heard  a  similar  cry,  they  said  it  was  '  only  Tibal- 


BOLOGNA.  325 

dello's  mare.'  Rising  at  length  to  the  third  stage  of  counterfeited 
madness,  Tibaldello  ran  about  the  streets  in  the  night,  and  cried 
out,  *  To  arms !  to  arms ! '  and  taking  in  his  hands  the  padlocks 
and  bars  of  the  city  gates,  which  were  sometimes  carelessly  left, 
he  raised  a  very  great  multitude  and  a  mighty  rumor,  so  as  again 
to  alarm  the  Lambertazzi,  and  drive  them  to  their  arms;  but, 
finding  it  another  freak  of  Tibaldello,  they  threatened  him  severely 
if  he  should  make  any  more  such  disturbance,  and  returned.  By 
these  whimsical  movements,  frequently  repeated,  he  so  effectually 
quieted  the  suspicions  of  the  Lambertazzi  and  Ghibellines,  that 
upon  any  such  uproar  they  laughed  with  the  rest,  and  made 
themselves  merry  with  the  crazy  whimsies  of  Tibaldello.  With 
so  much  art  and  perseverance  was  the  folly  simulated,  that  all 
suspicions  were  quieted,  not  only  in  the  Ghibellines,  but  in  the 
Vvhole  city;  and  the  belief  of  his  irrecoverable  folly  was  universal. 
"  Having  pursued  his  plan  thus  far  with  success,  he  opened 
himself  in  perfect  confidence  to  a  very  faithful  friend,  made  him 
acquainted  with  his  design,  and  desired  him  to  prepare  with 
secrecy  two  habits  of  monks,  in  a  sack,  and  meet  him  the  next 
day  in  a  forest  in  the  neighborhood  of  Faenza.  This  was  done; 
and  at  the  hour  prescribed  they  met,  Tibaldello  having  gone  out 
of  town  with  all  the  appearance  of  a  madman,  disguised  like  a 
i  ilconer,  with  two  dogs  attending  him,  and  a  hawk  in  his  hand, 
i  o  the  high  diversion  of  every  one  that  met  him.  Arrived  at  a 
Lniely  place  in  the  forest,  he  set  his  dogs  and  his  hawk  at  liberty, 
jiiid,  with  his  faithful  companion,  putting  on  the  habits  of  friars, 
t  hat  they  might  not  be  known  by  any  whom  they  might  meet 
on  the  road,  and  travelling  all  night,  at  the  opening  of  the  gates 
in  the  morning  they  arrived  at  Bologna,  and  took  lodgings  at 
Ihe  house  of  Alberto  Battagliucci.  To  Guido  Ramponi  he  re 
lated  all  that  had  passed,  explained  his  intentions,  and  by  his 
i'avor  obtained  an  introduction  to  the  council  of  secrecy..  Here 
he  opened  his  whole  design,  and  the  desire  he  had  to  chastise 
the  Lambertazzi ;  and  showed  them  of  how  much  importance  it 
was  to  them  to  embrace  the  present  opportunity  to  remove  from 
their  sight  and  their  apprehensions  those  enemies  of  their  city 
and  people,  who  were  constantly  employed  in  schemes  of  mis 
chief  against  both.  This  counsel  was  received  with  pleasure  by 
the  whole  body,  and  the  business  was  referred  to  the  four  super 
intendents  of  peace,  under  oath  to  keep  it  secret.  To  these 

VOL.  V.  28 


326  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Tibaldello  methodically  communicated  his  plan,  and  demanded 
only  for  himself,  and  all  the  family  of  the  Zambrasi,  and  Ghirar- 
done,  his  faithful  friend,  and  his  family,  to  be  made  citizens  of 
Bologna ;  and  engaged  to  send  hostages  as  security  for  what  was 
to  be  done.  The  offers  of  Tibaldello  were  very  satisfactory  to  the 
pretor,  and  Guidottino  Prendiparte  pledged  himself  for  the  family 
of  Zambrasi.  The  four  superintendents  made  him  relate  the 
method  and  means  by  which  every  thing  was  to  be  conducted  ; 
and  the  stratagem  appearing  to  be  practicable,  they  again  took 
an  oath  to  keep  the  whole  a  secret. 

"  The  business  concluded  on,  they  dismissed  Tibaldello,  who 
was  to  procure  the  hostages ;  so,  setting  out  the  same  evening, 
he  reached  Faenza  at  the  opening  of  the  gates,  and  entered  the 
city  without  being  known  by  any  one.  Arrived  at  his  house,  he 
found  his  whole  family  in  great  affliction.  To  his  aged  father 
alone  he  related  in  order  the  progress  he  had  made  by  means  of 
a  feigned  madness,  in  his  plan  against  those  who  had  taken  little 
account  of  the  honor  of  his  family  and  blood.  The  father,  with 
joy  beyond  expression,  and  a  thousand  embraces  of  his  son, 
caused  to  be  assembled  in  his  house  all  their  relations,  to  whom, 
in  an  eloquent  and  prudent  harangue,  Tibaldello  related  his 
actions  and  designs.  All  with  one  voice  and  one  heart  offered 
to  devote  themselves  to  vengeance  on  the  Lambertazzi.  Tibal 
dello,  to  whom  an  hour  appeared  a  thousand  years,  till  he 
could  see  an  end  of  his  enterprise,  the  next  day  secretly  sent  his 
three  brothers,  —  namely,  Zambraso,  Guido,  and  Fiorino,  to  Bo 
logna,  conducted  by  Ghirardone,  informing  the  four  superintend 
ents  of  what  they  were  to  do,  and  of  the  hour  when  their  soldiers 
ought  to  appear  at  Faenza.  The  hostages  received,  the  council 
assembled,  digested  every  particular,  and  secretly  gave  orders 
that  all  the  passes  should  be  secured,  that  no  one  might  be  able 
to  send  intelligence  of  any  thing  that  happened. 

"  On  the  twenty -third  of  August,  1281,  the  army  of  Bologna 
was  formed,  and  marched  out  of  the  city  in  order,  with  all  the 
Guelph  party;  by  a  forced  march  the  wThole  night,  they  were 
early  in  the  morning  at  the  gate  appointed;  finding  it  open, 
they  freely  entered  the  city,  and  were  conducted  to  the  place 
intended  for  action.  The  Zambrasi  had  embarrassed  and  stopped 
up  the  streets  where  they  thought  proper;  and  Tibaldello,  as  usual, 
feigning  to  make  a  noise  with  the  padlocks  at  the  gates  of  the 


BOLOGNA.  327 

houses  of  the  Lambertazzi,  in  truth  fastened  many  of  them  within, 
so  that  they  could  not  go  out.  The  whole  apparatus  being  ready, 
he  set  up  a  cry  of  Long1  live  the  church !  and  Down  wiili  all  the 
traitors!  and  while  he  was  terrifying  the  city  with  this  horrid 
outcry,  the  Bolognese,  with  the  utmost  security,  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  piazza  of  the  city.  The  Ghibellines,  followers  of 
the  Lambertazzi,  hearing  the  noise  of  voices  and  the  sound  of 
arms,  rang  the  bells,  assembled  a  great  number,  and  hastened  to 
the  piazza,  there  to  fortify  themselves ;  but,  finding  the  Guelphs 
already  in  possession,  they  began  the  conflict." 

The  particulars  of  this  engagement,  the  danger  of  one  and 
intrepidity  of  another  individual,  are  not  now  material.  "  The 
action  was  sharp  and  bloody ;  and  after  mighty  feats  of  valor  on 
both  sides,  and  many  killed  and  wounded,  the  Lambertazzi  were 
defeated,  and  such  as  could,  obliged  to  fly  into  the  country ;  all 
who  could  not,  were  put  to  the  sword.  Nine  of  the  principals 
fled  to  a  church  or  monastery  for  sanctuary,  but  were  there  mise 
rably  put  to  death.  Besides  five  hundred  prisoners,  a  multitude 
of  others  wretchedly  perished  in  the  sinks  and  ditches. 

"  The  Bolognese,  having  obtained  the  victory,  and  by  means 
of  it  the  complete  dominion  of  Faenza,  pardoned  the  Faentines, 
but  confiscated  all  the  property  of  the  Lambertazzi  and  their 
adherents,  both  within  and  without  the  city.  Finally,  they 
appointed  a  new  pretor  and  a  sufficient  guard,  and  triumph 
antly  conducted  Tibaldello  Zambrasi,  his  father,  and  with  them 
Zambraso,  Guido,  and  Fiorino,  the  hostages,  and  their  sister  and 
other  relations,  to  Bologna,  who  were  all  made  by  the  senate 
not  only  citizens,  but  nobles.  The  same  honors  and  immuni 
ties  were  conferred  on  Ghirardone  and  his  relations,  to  all  of 
whom  the  senate  gave  houses  and  possessions,  and  they  enjoyed 
the  most  respectable  offices  in  the  state.  As  the  victory  was  the 
twenty-fourth  of  August,  the  senate  ordained  an  annual  festival 
of  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  in  perpetual  commemoration  of  Tibal 
dello;  in  which  his  pig,  his  mare,  his  hawks,  dogs,  friar's  dress, 
and  city  keys,  were  all  transmitted,  in  sculpture  and  marble,  to 
the  amusement  and  astonishment  of  posterity. 

"  The  nobles  of  the  party  of  Lambertazzi,  who  were  still  re 
maining  in  Forli,  sent  ambassadors  to  the  pope  to  obtain  peace, 
but  they  could  accomplish  nothing;  the  pope  not  only  refused 
to  receive  them,  but  ordered  them  to  return.  The  Gieremei  sent 


328  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

ambassadors,  and  they  were  admitted  to  an  audience,  and  received 
with  dignity ;  and  by  their  persuasions  the  pope  sent  Giovanni 
Appia,  a  French  gentleman,  a  counsellor  of  King  Charles,  with 
eight  hundred  cavalry,  to  recover  Forli.  The  pope  made  him 
Count  of  Romagna,  and  he  went  with  the  ambassadors  to  Bo 
logna,  where  he  was  received  with  great  honor;  where  he 
remained,  however,  but  a  short  time ;  for  having  in  1282 
despatched  what  belonged  to  his  office,  he  took  with  him  two 
of  the  tribes  of  the  city,  and  marched  into  the  territory  of 
Ravenna.  From  thence  he  wrote  to  the  republic  of  Forli,  com 
manding  them  to  send  out  of  their  city  the  Count  Guido  da 
Feltrio,  and  all  the  foreigners ;  but  he  was  not  obeyed,  because 
neither  the  Count  nor  the  Lambertazzi,  to  whom  he  wrote  at  the 
same  time,  were  willing  to  go." 

Their  refusal  gave  occasion  to  another  long  war,  and  to  all  the 
fire  and  sword,  stratagems  and  massacres,  as  well  as  carnage  in 
battle,  that  usually  attended  all  their  wars.  But  though  these 
evils  also  originated  in  the  same  source,  the  imperfect  constitu 
tion  of  Bologna,  they  may  be  passed  over. 

"It  seems  there  were  still  some  persons  left  in  Bologna  of  the 
name  of  Lambertazzi,  one  of  whom,  in  1285,  came  to  blows  with 
one  of  the  Scannabecchi  under  the  piazza,  which  occasioned 
another  rising  of  the  people  in  arms.  They  were  both  put  to 
flight,  but  overtaken  in  the  country,  and  beheaded ;  and  all  the 
party  of  the  Lambertazzi  were  again  declared  rebels,  and  all  their 
families  banished  to  a  certain  distance  in  the  city,  and  confined 
to  places  assigned  them.  The  wise  men  (sapienti)  afterwards 
made  a  provision,  that  all  those  of  the  party  of  the  Lambertazzi 
who  had  taken  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  church  and  the  party  of 
the  Gieremei,  according  to  a  general  regulation  made  in  the 
council  of  the  commons  and  people  of  Bologna,  should  be  can 
celled  from  the  book  of  the  exiles,  excepting  those  who,  since 
taking  the  oath,  had  gone  to  live  in  Faenza,  Forli,  and  other 
places,  and  united  themselves  with  the  enemies  of  the  people  of 
Bologna;  and  with  this  reservation,  that  none  who  had  been  of 
the  party  of  the  Lambertazzi  at  the  time  of  the  first  commotion, 
should  be  of  the  council,  or  hold  any  office.  This  regulation 
gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  city,  and  a  general  tranquillity. 

"  But  the  government  had  not  strength  to  preserve  the  peace. 
In  1286,  a  private  quarrel,  however,  happened,  probably  from  the 


BOLOGNA.  329 

general  state  of  parties,  in  which  Gualradi,  of  the  company  della 
Branca,  was  killed.  The  government  was  neither  able  to  punish 
the  murderer  nor  to  prevent  the  people  from  taking  it  'upon  them 
selves  in  their  own  way.  They  took  arms  for  revenge,  and  ruined 
all  the  houses,  towers,  trees,  and  .other  property  of  the  persons 
guilty  or  suspected,  both  in  the  city  and  out  of  it,  and  of  all  their 
relations.  But  the  new  government  could  not  long  remain  quiet. 
The  council  of  eight  hundred,  and  the  people,  having  their  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  general  utility  of  the  city  and  its  district,  that  all 
things  might  be  governed  with  consummate  prudence,  gave 
orders  to  the  sapienti  to  examine  how  a  new  council  might  be 
established,  of  two  thousand  persons,  of  sufficient  wisdom,  cha 
rity,  and  property  to  support  the  weight  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  sapienti,  elected  by  the  antiani  and  consuls,  having  maturely 
deliberated  and  debated,  ordained  that  the  new  council  of  two 
thousand  should  be  elected  by  ballot  in  that  council ;  that  is  to 
say,  that  a  hundred  electors  for  each  tribe  should  be  appointed, 
each  of  whom  should  have  the  election  of  five  members  of  the 
new  council ;  that  each  one  should  be  not  less  than  eighteen  nor 
more  than  seventy  years  of  age,  and  should  be  truly  of  the  party 
of  the  church  and  of  the  Gieremei  of  the  city  of  Bologna,  and  so 
held  and  reputed  in  the  time  of  the  first  commotion  which  hap 
pened  in  the  city ;  that  he  should  not  be  a  servant,*  a  puppet- 
showman,  a  porter,  nor  a  foreigner,  &c.,  nor  a  constant  inhabitant 
of  the  country  of  Bologna,  and  should  have  been  a  constant  resi 
dent  in  the  city  for  twenty  years ;  should  be  rated  to  the  public 
taxes,  and  have  paid  his  share  of  the  public  collections  ;  should  be 
known  in  the  lists  of  the  public  factions,  but  should  not  be  a  cler 
gyman  or  ecclesiastical  person,  nor  of  any  other  city,  castle,  or 
land  which  has  favored  the  Ghibellines  or  the  party  of  the  Lam- 
bertazzi.  If  there  were  any  one  at  present  in  the  council,  in  any 
of  the  cases  enumerated  in  this  order,  he  could  not  be  chosen  by 
any  elector  whatsoever  ;  and  if  he  obtained  a  ticket  as  an  elector, 
he  could  not  vote  himself  in  any  manner.  No  one  could  be 
elected  contrary  to  the  preceding  form,  under  penalty  of  banish 
ment  and  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  for  every  one  that  should  vio- 

*  "Non  sia  servo,  burrattino,  brentatore,  fachino,  ne  fumante,  o  forestiero." 
p.  270. 

The  translator  omits  to  notice  a  remarkable  qualification  which  precedes  these, 
"  che  sia  senza  macchia  d'  infamia  alcuna." 

28* 


330  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

late  it,  and  for  every  offence ;  and  any  one  who  should  be  elected 
contrary  to  this  order  should  not  take  the  oath  of  a  counsellor, 
nor  proceed  to  choose  another,  under  the  same  penalty.  Every 
election  made  against  it  should  be  null,  and  any  one  might 
inform  secretly  or  openly  of  a  breach  of  this  law,  and  obtain  the 
penalty.  The  antiani,  consuls,  and  doctors  of  laws  and  their 
notaries  should  be  of  this  council  ex  qfficio,  in  addition  to  the 
number  of  two  thousand ;  but  no  one  was  to  be  a  member  who 
was  not  a  native  of  the  city.  The  senate  then  caused  to  be  dis 
tinctly  recorded,  in  three  books,  the  names  of  the  banished  Lam- 
bertazzi,  repaired  the  carroccio  and  its  standard,  and  painted  it 
with  the  portraits  of  six  saints,  and  laid  out  upon  it  no  less  than 
thirty  pounds  and  ten  pence." 

Many  other  regulations  and  precautions  were  taken  by  the 
triumphant  faction  of  the  Gieremei,  to  fortify  themselves  in  the 
government,  and  exclude,  in  the  most  decided  manner,  every 
man  who  had  any  tincture  of,  or  connection  with,  the  opposite 
party ;  but  still  there  were  not  wanting  many  seditious  persons, 
insidiously  meditating  to  undermine  their  tranquillity,  and  to 
favor  those  who  were  held  to  be  rebels  against  them  ;  so  that  the 
senate  were  frequently  alarmed,  and  full  of  apprehensions  of  the 
total  ruin  of  the  city. 

They  saw  that  almost  the  whole  country  was  one  continued 
tavern  of  the  banished  (banditti)  ;  and,  to  put  some  restraint 
upon  their  temerity,  purge  both  the  city  and  country  of  such  a 
dangerous  plague,  and  quiet  the  seditions  of  the  nobles,  they 
assembled  the  antiani,  consuls,  and  all  the  sapienti,  made  many 
ordinances  against  the  banished  rebels,  to  the  end  that  no  fresh 
revolution  might  be  attempted ;  and  made  it  a  capital  crime 
to  attempt  or  propose,  or  even  to  speak  or  reason  about  their 
restoration  or  pardon.* 

*  There  is  another  anecdote  in  1288,  which,  although  it  remains  in  mysterious 
obscurity,  may  yet  be  alleged  as  an  instance  of  those  extravagant  characters, 
irregular  events,  and  atrocious  actions,  which  always  abound  in  such  governments, 
render  the  protection  of  the  laws  precarious,  and  life  and  liberty  insecure.  "Am 
bassadors  had  been  sent  by  the  republic  to  Forli,  and  to  the  Count  of  Romagna ; 
and  other  ambassadors  were  sent  to  the  Marquis  of  Este,  to  congratulate  him 
upon  his  interposition  to  promote  an  accommodation  between  the  citizens  of 
Reggio,  who  were  truly  of  the  party  of  the  church,  and  to  beg  that  by  his  coun 
sels  and  mediation  he  would  prevail  upon  Bettino  Galluzzi,  elected  captain  of 
Reggio,  to  hearken  to  reason,  and  restore  some  merchandises  taken  at  Rubiera 
from  Bolognese  merchants.  Lamberto  Bazzilieri,  a  Bolognese,  had  contracted 
friendships  with  many  persons  in  the  court  of  Obizzo,  Marquis  of  Este,  and 


BOLOGNA.  331 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1289,  all  their  prudence  appeared 
to  be  ineffectual ;  for  in  their  own  faction,  and  in  the  new  govern 
ment,  were  two  parties  still,  the  nobles  and  plebeians,  and  a 
tumult  arose  between  them.  The  senate,  the  pretor  of  the  pre 
ceding  year,  and  the  people,  became  involved  in  the  dispute,  till 
the  pretor  thought  his  life  in  danger,  and  secretly  went  away  from 
the  city  with  many  of  his  friends.  The  want  and  the  necessity 
of  representatives  of  the  people  was  felt  at  this  time ;  and  whe 
ther  it  was  to  obtain  information,  or  to  throw  off  a  burden  of 
care  and  labor,  or -to  gratify  some  aspiring  individuals,  or  to 
please  the  people,  or  to  extend  their  influence,  or  whether  all 
these  motives  concurred,  the  antiani,  assembled  in  the  chamber 
of  the  pretor,  considered  among  themselves  what  ought  chiefly 
to  be  done  relative  to  the  war  at  this  time  to  be  carried  on  in 
conjunction  with  their  confederates ;  and  they  ordained  that  two 
wise  men,  of  exemplary  lives,  should  be  elected  from  each  tribe, 
who  should  examine,  and,  in  concert  with  them,  the  antiani, 
inquire  in  what  state  were  the  stipendiaries  of  the  commons  of 
Bologna,  and  see  whether  the  soldiers  had  their  horses  according 
to  law,  and  whether  provision  was  made  of  money  to  pay  salaries, 
wages,  &c.  But  who  was  to  elect  these  wise  men  ?  Not  the 
people ;  not  the  tribes  themselves.  This  would  have  made  two 
centres ;  and  all  authority  must  be  in  one.  The  antiani  them 
selves  therefore  elected  them ;  and  in  the  afternoon  the  antiani 
and  the  wise  men  assembled  together,  and  consulted  generally 

frequented  familiarly  all  the  courtiers  of  that  prince ;  so  that  he  was  held  to  be 
one  of  that  court.  Finding  Obizzo  at  table  one  day  at  dinner,  Lamberto,  without 
being  observed  by  any  one,  approached  very  near  the  person  of  the  prince,  drew 
his  dagger,  and,  with  a  rapid  and  malicious  force  of  his  arm,  gave  him  an  unex 
pected  stroke  across  the  visage.  Azzo,  the  prince's  son,  and  all  the  other  cour 
tiers  and  citizens  present,  laid  their  hands  upon  their  swords,  and  rushed  upon 
the  malefactor  to  put  him  to  death ;  Obizzo,  though  his  face  was  covered  with 
blood,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  command  them  to  desist,  but  ordered  him  to 
be  put  to  the  torture,  to  make  him  confess  from  what  motive,  and  at  whose  insti 
gation,  he  had  made  such  a  desperate  attempt.  After  a  long  and  cruel  examina 
tion  on  the  rack,  he  declared  that  he  had  not  done  it  by  the  orders,  or  at  the 
desire,  or  by  the  advice  of  any  one,  nor  excited  by  any  hope,  nor  in  consequence 
of  any  previous  conversation  or  thoughts,  but  that  he  had  been  urged  on  by  a 
sudden  fury.  This  confession  not  being  credited,  he  was  examined  again  repeat 
edly,  but,  with  the  same  constancy  and  fortitude,  persevered  in  the  same  confes 
sion  ;  nor  could  all  his  torment  extort  from  him  any  other  answer.  Finally, 
bound  to  the  tails  of  four  asses,  he  was  dragged  through  all  the  city  of  Ferrara, 
and  afterwards  hanged."  This  action  is  arTexample  of  that  contempt  of  life, 
that  inveteracy  of  resolution,  and  that  immovable  fortitude,  which  is  sometimes 
inspired  by  the  inflamed  passions  of  party ;  but  his  denial  is  by  no  means  a  proof 
that  the  plan  was  not  concerted. 


332  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

about  the  soldiers ;  and  it  was  concluded  that  the  number  in  pay 
ought  not  to  be  diminished,  but  rather  increased ;  and  that  par 
ticular  attention  should  be  given  to  the  collection  of  the  revenue 
upon  several  articles,  as  grain,  salt,  mills,  &c.,  that  money  might 
be  had  in  season  to  pay  the  soldiers  their  stipends,  &c. 

But  there  is  not  time  nor  room  to  pursue  this  relation.  It 
must  be  sufficient  to  add,  that  affairs  went  on  in  this  curious 
manner  to  the  final  catastrophe  of  all  such  governments,  an  esta 
blishment  of  absolute  power  in  a  single  man.  There  were  in 
Italy,  in  the  middle  ages,  a  hundred  or  two  of  cities,  all  independ 
ent  republics,  and  all  constituted  nearly  in  the  same  manner. 
The  history  of  one  is,  under  different  names  and  various  circum 
stances,  the  history  of  all ;  and  all,  excepting  two  or  three  that 
are  still  decided  aristocracies,  had  the  same  destiny,  an  exit  in 
monarchy.  There  are  extant  a  multitude  of  particular  histories 
of  these  cities,  full  of  excellent  warning  for  the  people  of  America.* 
Let  me  recommend  it  to  you,  my  young  readers,  who  have  time 
enough  before  you,  to  make  yourselves  masters  of  the  Italian 
language,  and  avail  your  country  of  all  the  instruction  contained 
in  them,  as  well  as  of  all  the  art,  science,  and  literature  which 
we  owe  to  Greece,  Italy,  and  Palestine,  countries  which  have 
been  and  are  our  masters  in  all  things. 

*  By  all  of  them  is  verified  the  observation  of  a  liberal  writer,  quoted  before : 
"  These  republics  were  all  exposed  to  almost  daily  revolutions ;  and  seldom  did 
the  system  of  administration  continue  a  whole  year  the  same."  Danina,  Revolu 
tions  of  Literature,  c.  v.  sect  10. 


A 


DEFENCE 


OF  THE 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    GOVERNMENT 


OF     THE 


UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA, 


AGAINST     THE     ATTACK     OF     M.    TURGOT,     IN     HIS     LETTER     TO     DR. 
PRICE,    DATED    THE    TWENTY-SECOND    DAY    OF    MARCH,    1778. 


BY 


JOHN    ADAMS. 


"  Some  philosophers  have  been  foolish  enough  to  imagine,  that  improvements  might  be  made 
in  the  system  of  the  universe,  by  a  different  arrangement  of  the  orbs  of  heaven  ;  and  politicians, 
equally  ignorant,  and  equally  presumptuous,  may  easily  be  led  to  suppose,  that  the  happiness 
of  our  world  would  be  promoted  by  a  different  tendency  of  the  human  mind. 

JOHNSON'S  ADVENTURER,  No.  45. 


IN    THREE     VOLUMES. 


VOL.  m. 


DEFENCE 


OF   THE 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    GOVERNMENT 


OF    THE 


UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER   SEVENTH. 
ITALIAN  REPUBLICS. 

PISTOIA. 

"THE  Roman  republic,  according  to  its  custom*  of  putting 
judges  in  all  places  under  its  dominion,  sent  to  Pistoia  a  pretor, 
who  had  the  whole  jurisdiction,  civil  and  criminal,  over  the  city ; 
reserving  always,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  Roman  laws, 
obedience  to  the  magistrates  of  that  commonwealth.  This 
jurisdiction,  acquired  by  the  Roman  republic  over  the  city  of 
Pistoia,  passed  to  the  Roman  emperors,  and  from  these,  into  the 
power  of  the  Goths  and  the  Lombards,  and  successively  of  those 
who,  from  time  to  time,  were  lords  (signore)  of  Tuscany ;  and 
it  has  continued,  down  to  our  times,  under  the  same  tie  and  obli 
gation  of  dependence.  It  is  very  true,  that  the  province  being 

*  Memorie  Storiche  della  citt£  di  Pistoia,  raccolte  da  Jacopo  Maria  Fiora- 
vanti,  nobile  Patrizio  Pistoiese.  Edit.  Lucca,  1758,  cap.  ii.  p.  15. 


336  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

liberated  from  the  government  of  foreign  nations,  and  its  go 
vernors  (dominatori)  having  permitted  the  people  to  make  laws 
and  create  magistrates,  the  authority  became  divided ;  hence, 
when  the  concession  was  made  to  the  Pistoians  to  create  ma 
gistrates,  to  take  the  name  of  consuls,  and  to  form  the  general 
council  of  the  people,  they  were  permitted  to  expedite,  by  the 
authority  of  these,  many  things  in  their  city ;  reserving  always, 
nevertheless,  the  sovereignty  to  their  lords. 

"  This  concession  of  governing  themselves  by  their  own  laws, 
obtained  by  the  provinces  of  Italy,  was  the  pure  liberality  of 
Charlemagne,*  at  a  time  when,  having  delivered  them  entirely 
from  the  government  of  the  barbarians,  he  placed  them  under 
the  command  of  one  of  his  royal  ministers,  with  the  title  of 
marquis,  or  of  duke.  Under  this  system  of  government  Tus 
cany  was  comprehended,  which  had  its  dukes  and  marquises, 
who  governed  it.  But  as  it  was  the  custom  of  Charlemagne, 
and,  long  after  him,  of  his  successors,  to  send  to  the  cities  of 
this  province  two  subaltern  ministers,  one  with  the  name  of 
castaldo,  or  governor,  and  the  other  with  that  of  count,  which  is 
as  much  as  to  say,  judge  of  the  city,  who  held  his  courts  of  jus 
tice  either  alone,  or  in  conjunction  with  the  castaldo,  and  very 
often  with  the  bishop  of  the  place,  as  the  bishops  were  assessors 
and  officers,  deputed  as  vassals  of  the  king  or  the  emperor ;  so 
the  city  of  Pistoia  was  a  long  time  ruled  and  governed  by  this 
order  of  castaldi  and  counts. 

"  Otho  II.,  having  ascended  the  imperial  throne,  and  having 
conducted  the  affairs  of  Italy  with  little  good  fortune,  the  peo 
ple  began  to  think  it  lawful  to  lose  their  respect,  and  to  fail 
in  their  veneration  for  the  imperial  commands,  and  the  cities 
advancing  in  their  inclination  for  liberty,  many  of  them  began 
to  reassume  the  title  of  consuls,  which  had  been  extinct  under 
the  Lombards ;  and  if  these  had  somewhat  of  a  greater  author 
ity,  nevertheless,  they  were  not  exempt  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  dukes  and  marquises,  or  from  the  sovereignty  of  the  kings 
and  emperors. 

"  A  greater  spirit  of  independence  arising  in  the  minds  of  the 
Italians,  in  the  time  of  those  great  discords  between  the  empire 
and  the  church,  diminished  to  such  a  degree  the  esteem  of  the 

*  Sigonius,  De  Regno  Italice,  lib.  iv. 


PISTOIA.  337 

people  towards  the  emperors,  solemnly  excommunicated  by  the 
pontiffs,  that  a  great  part  of  the  cities  of  Italy,  estranging  them 
selves  by  little  and  little  from  their  obedience,  began  to  conduct 
themselves  like  independent  states,  in  entire  freedom.  This 
happened  in  the  time  of  Henry  IV.  and  V. ;  and  the  disobe 
dience  increased  still  more,  when  all  the  German  forces  were 
engaged  to  sustain,  in  Germany,  the  competition  between  Lo 
thario  II.  and  Conrad  the  Suabian,  for  the  throne  of  Csesar. 
Then  the  cities,  taking  advantage  of  the  distance  of  those  who 
had  power  to  bridle  their  arrogance,  began  to  be  insolent ;  *  then 
they  began  to  lift  up  their  heads,  and  to  do  whatever  seemed 
good  in  their  own  eyes ;  then  they  thought  it  lawful  to  appro 
priate  to  themselves  many  of  the  rights  of  royalty  due  to  their 
sovereign ;  and  believing  themselves  able  to  shake  off  the  yoke 
of  superiority,  they  attended  to  nothing  but  to  their  present 
advantage,  and  to  extend  the  limits  of  their  usurped  liberty. 
But  with  all  this,  they  were  never  able  to  extinguish  the  nature 
of  their  subjection,  nor  the  obligation  of  dependence ;  for  Fre 
derick  I.  passed  over  to  establish  and  regulate  their  privileges, 
in  the  convention  of  Constance,  and  the  rights  of  royalty  which 
had  been  then  usurped.  And  the  people  were  held  to  an  annual 
census,f  and  obliged  to  perform  certain  royal  and  personal  services. 
In  the  twelfth  century,  the  cities,  after  the  similitude  of  ancient 
Rome,  all  reassumed  the  title  of  consuls,  and  began,  some 
sooner  and  others  later,  to  make  their  proper  statutes,  and 
establish  their  popular  government.  Though  it  is  not  possible 
to  ascertain  the  precise  time  when  the  institution  of  consuls  was 
first  made  in  Pistoia,  they  are,  nevertheless,  found  named  in  the 
statutes  of  1107  ;  and  of  these  there  were  two,  called  the  Con 
sul  of  the  Soldiers,  and  the  Consul  of  Justice,  taken  from  the 
nobility  of  the  place,  and  were  called  the  Greater  Consuls,  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  plebeian  consuls  of  the  second  class, 
called  the  Lesser  Consuls,  or  Consuls  of  the  Merchants,  taken 
from  the  common  people.  Their  authority,  and  sometimes  their 
number  varied  ;  but  there  was  ever  to  be  one  more  of  the  popular 
than  of  the  greater  consuls.^  The  election  of  these  magistrates 

*  His  diebus,  propter  absentiam  regis,  Italiae  urbibus  in  insolentiam  deceden- 
tibus  .  .     Otho  of  Frisingen. 

f  Sigonius,  De  Regno  Italice,  lib.  xiii. 
j  Unus  plus  de  popularibus  quam  de  majoribus. 
VOL.  V.  29  V 


338  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

was  made  every  year  by  the  people,  with  the  intervention  of  all 
the  governors  (rettori)  of  the  arts  of  the  city  ;  and  they  governed, 
with  a  council  of  a  hundred  of  the  better  sort  of  citizens,  ad 
ministering  justice  both  to  the  laity  and  the  ecclesiastics.  This 
council,  besides  its  extraordinary  assemblies,  was  obliged  to  meet 
in  the  months  of  March,  May,  July,  and  September,  after  a  pre 
vious  intimation,  given  by  the  consuls,  of  the  business  to  be 
done;  and  for  the  result  of  this  assembly,  all  determinations 
upon  things  of  most  importance  must  wait;  and  all  laws, 
resolutions,  and  deliberations,  first  proposed  and  digested  in 
the  smaller  council  by  the  few,  must  be  here  confirmed  or  re 
jected." 

Here  again  is  a  constitution  of  all  authority  in  one  assem 
bly.  The  council  of  a  hundred  was  sovereign.  The  consuls, 
though  they  had  the  command  of  the  army,  and  the  judgment 
of  causes,  could  do  nothing  in  administration  by  themselves,  or 
with  advice  of  their  little  council.  They  had  no  negative  upon 
any  deliberation  or  resolution  of  the  great  council ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  people  had  no  negative,  not  even  the  poor  pro 
tection  of  a  tribunitian  veto.  Accordingly  we  read,  in  the  next 
paragraph,  that 

"  The  power  of  the  people  having  greatly  increased,  by  means 
of  their  usurped  liberty,1  the  factions  had  become  numerous,  and 
so  much  the  more  intractable  and  seditions,  as  the  incentive  of 
power  was  become  the  greater.  In  1155,  the  emperor  Frederick 
I.,  after  having  reduced  Milan  to  his  obedience,  and  received  the 
oaths  of  fidelity  from  all  the  other  cities  of  Italy,  and,  among  the 
Test,  from  those  of  Tuscany,  in  order  to  obviate  the  continual 
tumults  which  arose,  judged  it  necessary  to  institute  the  office 
and  dignity  of  podesta,  and  to  send  to  the  government  of  those 
cities  gentlemen  from  among  the  foreign  nobility,  with  that 
title.  This  commission  of  podesta  operated  to  the  damage  and 
diminution  of  the  influence  of  the  consuls,  because  in  this  ma 
gistrate  was  vested  the  whole  judicial  power,  both  in  private  and 
civil  causes,  and  in  those  which  were  public  and  criminal ;  and 
therefore  the  podesta  was  the  ordinary  judge  in  the  city,*  with 
full  power,  dominion,  and  authority  to  govern,  command,  and 

*  Con  tutta  la  balia,  impero,  e  potesta  di  governare,  comandare,  e  castigare. 
Eioravanti,  p.  18. 

i  The  historian  seems  to  have  had  little  notion  of  natural  rights. 


PISTOIA.  339 

chastise,  granted  to  him  by  the  emperor,  to  whom,  as  their  le 
gitimate  sovereign,  the  people  had  recourse  in  cases  of  appeal, 
and  in  all  denials  of  justice. 

"  From  its  subjection  to  this  minister,  in  the  earliest  times  of 
the  institution  of  his  office,  the  city  of  Pistoia  was  again  op 
pressed;  and,  as  the  nomination  was  reserved  directly  to  the 
sovereign,  so  the  officer  was  changed  as  often  as  the  times 
seemed  to  him  to  require.  The  discords  and  dissensions  having 
become  softened  by  length  of  time,  Pistoia  acquired  the  right  of 
election  of  this  minister,  who  obliged  himself,  in  many  things, 
to  follow  the  various  ordinances  and  resolutions  of  the  consuls. 
This  election  of  the  podesta  was  made  by  the  Pistoians  in  virtue 
of  a  municipal  law  consented  to  by  the  sovereign ;  the  person 
elected  remained  in  office  only  six  months,  and  was  chosen  by 
the  council  of  the  people,  as  it  was  called,  that  is,  the  council  of 
a  hundred,  with  the  intervention  of  all  the  rettori  of  the  chapels, 
and  of  the  arts.  The  podesta  was  bound  to  carry  with  him  judges 
skilful  in  the  laws,  notaries,  two  companies  of  militia,  horses,  and 
servants,  and  other  followers ;  and  these  officers  were  obliged  in 
all  things  to  render  their  accounts.  It  was  customary  to  confer 
this  dignity  of  podesta  upon  the  chief  citizens.  The  consuls  or 
the  podesta,  jointly  or  severally,  had  no  authority  to  impose 
taxes,  to  consent  to  war,  peace,  truce,  or  alliance,  without  the 
council  of  the  people,  which  consisted  of  a  hundred  citizens, 
elected  in  the  proportion  of  five  and  twenty  for  each  of  the  four 
gates  or  quarters  of  the  city,  with  the  addition  of  all  the  rettori 
of  the  chapels,  and  of  the  arts." 

In  other  words,  the  podesta,  consuls,  council  of  a  hundred,  and 
rectors  of  the  chapels  and  arts,  were  all  collected  in  one  assembly, 
to  determine  on  grants  for  money,  peace,  war,  truce,  alliance,  &c., 
and  all  questions  were  determined  by  the  vote  of  the  majority, 
which  necessarily  made  that  tempestuous  and  capricious  govern 
ment  in  one  centre,  against  which  we  contend. 

"And  to  the  podesta,  for  his  regulation  in  the  exercise  of  his 
office,  were  given  by  the  city  fourteen  counsellors,  and  two  judges ; 
one  de  lege,  that  is  to  say,  doctor  of  laws ;  the  other  ex  usu  or 
de  usu,  which  they  interpreted,  a  protector  of  the  commons ;  and 
two  advocates  for  arguing  each  cause.  With  the  opinion  of  all 
these,  he  decided  upon  those  things  which  affected  the  honor  or 
utility  of  -the  public,  as,  after  having  made  his  election  of  these 


340  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

attendants,  he  was  obliged  to  stand  by  their  advice.*  This 
podesta,  in  early  times,  superintended  not  only  the  secular,  but 
the  ecclesiastical  government;  but  in  process  of  time  the  city 
became  governed  by  three,  namely, — the  consuls,  the  podesta,  and 
the  bishop ;  for  the  bishop  had  profited  of  the  violent  dissensions 
that  prevailed  in  the  city,  to  draw  to  himself  various  rights 
and  jurisdictions,  as  has  happened  in  other  nations. 

"  The  lordship  of  the  podesta,  therefore,  having  preponderated 
over  the  authority  of  the  consuls,  these  were  gone,  when  the 
office  of  captain  of  the  people  was  created.  This  institution 
happened  in  Pistoia,  when  the  Guelph  party,  by  an  increase  of 
their  numbers  and  strength,  acquired  the  superiority  of  the  Ghi- 
bellines  ;  at  which  time,  the  lordship  was  taken  from  the  podesta 
with  a  great  concourse  and  tumult  of  the  people,  and  nothing 
was  left  him  but  the  charge  of  hearing  and  determining  civil 
causes.  Twelve  anziani  of  the  people  were  then  instituted,  and 
the  authority  of  the  consuls  was  transferred  to  them. 

"  The  last  appearance  of  the  consuls  in  the  records  of  Pistoia, 
is  in  1248,  and  the  first  of  the  captain  of  the  people,  in  1267 ; 
when  it  is  said  in  the  statute,  that  the  captain  of  the  people  was 
the  first  ruler  of  the  city,  and  the  primary  defender  of  its  rights, 
and  that  he  ought  chiefly  to  watch  over  the  conservation  of  the 
peace ;  that  he  was  the  judge  of  appeals,  and  of  all  causes  in 
the  second  instance ;  that  he  had  cognizance  of  crimes ;  that  he 
governed  with  supreme  authority,  united  with  that  of  the  anziani; 
that  he  kept  a  court,  of  the  same  kind  as  that  of  the  podesta, 
but  more  numerous ;  and  that  the  city  gave  him,  for  ornament 
and  defence,  three  hundred  of  the  best  and  ablest  men,  who, 
taking  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  him,  stood  continually  in  his  ser- 
vice.f  The  election  of  this  ruler  was  to  be  made  by  the  anziani) 
in  the  person  of  some  foreigner,  and  not  of  any  citizen  of  Pis 
toia,  notwithstanding,  some  of  the  primary  citizens  did  in  fact 
obtain  this  office,  as  appears  by  the  records.  Yet  the  anziani 
were  sworn  not  to  elect  any  man  of  Tuscany,  or  of  the  city  of 
Pistoia,  of  its  district,  or  other  place  adjoining  to  the  city  or  its 

*  His  oath  was,  Et  petam  a  consiliariis  toto  tempore  mei  dominii  de  rebus, 
quae  mihi  videbuntur  expectare  ad  communem  honorem,  et  utilitatem  nostrse  civi- 
tatis  Pistorii.  Fioravanti,  pp.  18,  19. 

f  Volumus  quod  eligantur  trecenti  boni  homines  de  populo  Pistoriense,  de 
melioribus  et  potentioribus,  pro  manutentione  et  defensione  Capitanei.  Rubrica 
cento  della  Legge  del  1274. 


PISTOIA.  341 

bishopric.  The  words  of  the  law,  in  the  twelfth  rubric  of 
1267,  are,  *  Nos  anthiani  populi  Pistoriensis,  jurarrms,  sine  aliquo 
intellectu  nobis  dato,  vel  dando  eligi,  vel  eligi  facere  nobis,  et 
Pist.  unum  bonum  et  virum  prudentem  majorem  XXX.  ann.  in 
nostrum  capitaneum  populi  devotum,  et  fidelem  ecclesise,  qui  non 
sit  de  civitate  Pistorii,  vel  districtu,  et  qui  non  sit  de  Tuscia  .  .  . 
vel  de  aliqua  terra,  quae  confinet  cum  civitate,  vel  episcopatu, 
vel  districtu  Pistorii.'  And  this  dignity  of  captain  of  the  peo 
ple  was  in  such  reputation,  that,  in  some  places,  princes  were 
chosen,  and  sometimes  even  the  pontiffs ;  and  such  personages, 
by  means  of  their  vicars,  often  exercised  it. 

"  The  captain  of  the  people,  therefore,  being  the  conservator 
of  the  peace,  and  the  defender  of  the  rights  of  the  city,  the 
Pistoians,  to  give  him  a  strong  arm  to  bridle  those  who  had  un 
quiet  and  restless  brains,  thought  it  necessary  to  create  certain 
companies  of  armed  men,  who,  at  the  sound  of  a  bell,  should 
be  obliged  to  assemble  in  the  piazza,  in  order  to  execute  the 
orders  which  should  be  given  them  by  this  officer  and  the  anziani, 
without  whose  permission  they  were  not  allowed  to  depart. 
These  companies  were  called  by  the  name  of  the  Equestrian  and 
Pedestrian  Orders,  because  they  were  composed  of  both  horse 
and  footmen.  They  were  afterwards  augmented  to  twelve,  in 
the  proportion  of  three  for  each  quarter,  which  embraced  an  infi 
nite  number  of  people ;  and  every  company  had  two  captains, 
one  gonfalonier,  whose  office  was  to  carry  the  standard  of  his 
company,  and  four  counsellors ;  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  cap 
tain  of  the  people  to  procure  the  election  of  these  officers,  as 
is  asserted  in  the  statute  of  1267,  rubric  19 :  '  Teneatur  capita- 
neus  del  popolo,  primo  mense  sui  regiminis,  eligi  facere  duos 
capitaneos,  unum  gonfalonerium,  et  quatuor  consiliarios  pro  qua- 
libet  compagnia  civit.  Pist.  pro  factis  ipsius  compagnisB.'  And 
in  the  additional  laws  of  1286,  eight  priors  were  added  to  these 
companies,  two  for  each  quarter;  and  other  orders  were  made 
for  the  good  regulation  of  this  militia. 

"  The  twelve  anziani  were  created  with  the  same  authority 
and  full  power  which  the  consuls  had  held ;  but  the  precise  year 
cannot  be  ascertained.  The  number  of  members  of  which  the 
new  magistrature  was  composed,  appears  by  a  law  of  1267 :  '  Or- 
dinamus  quod  duodecim  anthiani  populi  civit.  Pist.  sint  et  esse 
debeant  in  civitate  Pistoria.'  These  twelve  magistrates  were 
29* 


342  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

renewed  every  two  months;  and  afterwards,  as  appears  by  a 
law  of  1277,  it  was  established,  that  the  anzianate  should  not 
continue  longer  than  one  month ;  and  this  magistracy  of  the 
anziani  was  elected  by  a  council  of  the  people  of  two  hundred, 
by  the  rettori  of  the  arts  and  their  counsellors,  and  by  the  cap 
tains,  gonfaloniers,  and  counsellors  of  the  companies  of  the 
people,  and  by  the  anziani  pro  tempore.  The  head  of  the  anzi 
ani  was,  in  the  primitive  times,  called  prior,  and  not  gonfalonier. 
The  prior  being  the  first  dignity  among  the  anziani,  each  member 
enjoyed  it  in  rotation  for  an  equal  number  of  days,  (as  the  presi 
dent's  chair  of  the  States  General  is  filled  by  all  the  members  in 
turn,  for  one  week,  at  the  Hague.)  This  prior  had  great  author 
ity,  as  appears  by  a  law  of  1267,  written  in  the  thirty-seventh  rubric : 
'  Anthiani  teneantur  facere,  et  faciant  inter  se,  unum  priorem  de  ip- 
sis  anthianis  adjectum  ipsis,  sicut  eis  videbitur  de  tempore,  cui  cse- 
teri  anthiani  pareant,  et  parere  debeant,  et  obedire ;  et  qui  contra- 
fecerit  puniatur  a  priore  anthianorum.'  Although  the  name  of 
gonfalonier  appears  in  the  records  of  some  of  these  years,  yet  cer 
tainly  he  was  not  the  head  of  the  anziani,  but  of  the  arts ;  thus, 
in  the  law  of  1283 :  '  Item  capitaneus  debeat  spendere  et  assig- 
nare  gonfalonem  gonfaloneriis  electis,  vel  eligendis,  ab  unaquaque 
arte  et  populo  ....  ita  quod  unaquseque  ars  suos  gonfalonerios 
et  officiales  habeat.'  From  this  it  clearly  appears,  that  these 
gonfaloniers  were  the  heads  of  the  arts,  and  not  of  the  supreme 
rnagistrature  of  the  anziani ;  which  gonfaloniers  were  elected  by 
the  council  of  the  people  of  two  hundred,  by  the  rettori  of  the 
arts,  and  their  counsellors,  and  by  the  captains,  gonfaloniers,  and 
counsellors  of  the  companies  of  the  people,  and  by  the  anziani  for 
the  time  being.  These  anziani,  sitting  together  with  the  captain 
of  the  people,  and  the  general  council  of  the  people,  promulgated 
laws  and  statutes,  gave  execution  to  all  the  laws,  civil  and  crimi 
nal,  performed  and  conducted  all  the  most  important  affairs 
relating  to  the  government,  and  restrained  the  nobles  and  ple 
beians  with  the  fear  of  punishment  within  the  limits  of  respect 
and  obedience."  * 

That  is  to  say,  all  authority,  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial, 
was  collected  together  in  one  single  assembly.  But  how  they  re 
strained  the  nobles  and  plebeians  to  obedience,  we  shall  soon  see. 

"In  the  year  1329,  these  anziani  are  called  in  the  records 
*  Flora vanti,  p.  21. 


PISTOIA.  343 

Imperial  Counsellors,  ( Consiglieri  Imperial^)  a  remarkable  title, 
obtained  probably  from  the  Emperor  Louis,  of  Bavaria,  when, 
after  the  death  of  Castmccio,  he  placed  one  of  his  imperial  vicars 
over  the  custody  of  the  city  of  Pistoia.  The  dignity  of  gonfa 
lonier  of  justice  was  probably  instituted  in  the  year  1295,  because 
in  the  next  year,  1296,  in  the  acts  of  council  it  is  recorded,  '  De 
consilio  et  consensu  et  auctoritate  dominorum  anthianorum  et 
vexilliferi  justitia?  populi,  et  auctoritate  ducentorum  consilia- 
rorum.' 

"  The  new  law  of  1330,  names  a  gonfalonier  of  justice,  and 
eight  anziani.  i  It  is  resolved,  that  the  anziani  of  the  commons, 
and  people  of  the  city  of  Pistoia,  be,  and  ought  to  be,  eight 
only,  namely, — two  for  each  gate  or  quarter,  and  one  gonfalonier 

or  justice  for  the  whole  city The  said  lords,  the  anziani,  and 

the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  and  their  notaries,  shall  be  and  ought 
to  be  of  the  best  popular  men  and  artificers  of  the  city,  and  not 
of  any  house  of  the  grandees.'  *  And  the  authority  of  the  gon 
falonier  of  justice  was  placed  upon  an  equality  with  that  of  the 
anziani.  The  law  ordained,  that,  'wherever,  in  the  statutes  of 
the  commons  and  people,  mention,  is  made  of  the  anziani,  the 
same  shall  be  understood  of  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  although 
it  be  not  written ;  and  in  all  things,  and  everywhere,  he  shall 
have  the  same  authority,  and  full  power  (balia)  as  has  one  of  the 
anziani,  besides  his  proper  office.'  And  to  show  that  the  gonfa 
lonier  of  justice  was  not,  in  the  beginning,  superior  to  the  anzi~ 
ani,  it  appears  that,  after  the  introduction  of  that  office,  they 
continued  to  appoint,  in  the  usual  manner,  a  prior  of  the  anziani, 
with  the  same  authority  and  preeminence  before  described.  The 
law  of  1330  says,  'And  the  anziani  and  gonfalonier  of  justice, 
after  they  shall  be  congregated  in  their  palace,  and  shall  have 
taken  their  usual  oaths,  shall  constitute  one  prior  from  among 
themselves,  for  such  time  as  they  please,  to  whom  all  the  others 
shall  obey,  under  the  penalty,  &c.  So  that  each  of  the  anziani 
and  gonfaloniers  of  justice  shall  be  prior,  according  to  the  pro 
portion  of  time  they  shall  be  in  office.' 

"  The  gonfalonier,  by  the  duty  of  his  office,  was  bound  to  send 
out,  with  the  consent  and  participation  of  the  anziani,  the  stand- 

*  Dieti  domini  anthiani,  et  vexillifer  justitiae,  et  eorum  notarii,  sint  et  esse 
debeant  de  melioribus  popularibus  et  artificibus  dictae  civitatis,  et  non  de  aliqua 
doino  magnata.  Fioravanti,  p.  21. 


344  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

ard  of  justice,  to  assemble  the  armed  militia,  and  go  out  to  exe 
cute  process  against  any  of  the  grandees  (magnati) ;  '  which 
gonfalonier  of  justice,'  says  the  law,  'shall  be  bound  by  the  obli 
gation  of  an  oath,  and  under  the  penalty  of  five  hundred  pounds, 
upon  the  commission  of  any  homicide,  to  draw  forth  the  stand 
ard  of  justice,  and,  together  with  the  captain  of  the  people,  to 
go  to  the  house  of  the  grandee  committing  such  homicide,  or 
causing  it  to  be  committed,  and  to  cause  his  goods  to  be 
destroyed,  and  not  to  suffer  the  said  standard  to  repose,  until  all 
the  property  of  such  delinquent  shall  be  totally  destroyed  and 
laid  waste,  both  in  the  city  and  the  country ;  and  to  cause  the 
bell  of  the  people  to  be  rung,  if  it  shall  seem  expedient  to  the 
lords,  the  anziani,  and  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  or  the  major 
part  of  them ;  and  all  the  shops,  stores,  and  warehouses,  shall 
be  shut  immediately  upon  the  commission  of  such  homicide, 
and  shall  not  be  opened  till  execution  shall  be  done  as  aforesaid. 
But  in  all  other  offences  perpetrated  against  the  person  of  any 
man  of  the  people  by  any  grandee,  it  shall  be  in  the  discretion 
of  the  said  lords,  the  anziani,  and  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  or 
the  major  part  of  them,  to  draw  out  the  said  standard  or  not.' 
Such  a  rigorous  kind  of  justice,  as  it  regarded  the  grandees,  who 
gave  themselves  a  license  to  commit  excessive  disorders  against 
those  of  the  commonalty,  was  thought  to  be  best  adapted  to 
their  insolence.  And  to  undeceive  those  who  may  imagine  that 
in  Pistoia,  at  that  time,  the  title  of  grandee  was  a  respectable 
title,  and  distinctive  of  the  true  nobility  of  the  place,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  have  recourse  to  the  common  municipal  law,  which  says, 
that  the  magnati  (grandees)  were  all  those,  of  whatever  condi 
tion,  who,  abandoned  to  an  ill  life,  offended  the  commonalty, 
and  held  the  city  and  country  in  inquietude ;  they  for  this  reason 
were  called  Magnates,  became  separated  from  public  affairs,  and 
excluded  entirely  from  all  magistracies  and  offices,  and  subjected 
to  very  rigorous  penalties.  By  the  laws  of  the  years  1330  and  1344, 
to  be  declared  a  grandee  was  rather  an  infamy  than  an  honor.  The 
words  of  the  law  are  these :  '  But  if  it  shall  happen  that  men 
of  any  race,  or  noble  house,  or  any  one  of  them  from  such  a 
a  noble  house  or  stock,  born  of  the  male  line,  or  any  others,  live 
wickedly  and  flagitiously  against  the  people,  hurt  the  men  of 
the  people,  arid  terrify  and  disturb  their  peaceful  state,  or  shall 
endeavor  to  do  so  by  themselves  or  by  others,  and  this  shall  be 


PISTOIA.  345 

made  known  by  public  fame  to  the  captain  of  the  people  and 
the  anziani  and  gonfalonier  of  justice  for  the  time  being ;  these 
magistrates,  at  the  petition  of  any  of  the  people  of  Pistoia, 
shall  be  obliged  to  propose  to  the  council  of  the  people,  that  such 
a  noble  house  or  progeny,  such  a  man  or  number  of  men,  thus 
defamed,  be  written  and  placed  in  the  number  of  grandees,  and 
be  accounted  as  such.'  *  And  as  the  Pistoians  were  driven  to 
great  perplexities  to  maintain  in  peace  and  quiet,  their  popular 
government,  and  in  order  to  punish  severely  all  those  who  should 
take  the  license  to  disturb  the  pacific  state  of  their  city,  they 
proclaimed  this  penalty  on  all  delinquents,  by  a  law  of  the  year 
1418,  rubric  9.  'But  if  it  shall  happen  that  any  one  of  any 
noble  house  or  race,  or  any  one  of  any  other  condition,  shall  live 
wickedly  and  profligately,  or  shall  commit  or  attempt  to  commit 
any  such  crime  or  misdemeanor  against  the  people,  and  the 
pacific  state  of  the  people  of  the  city  of  Pistoia,  they  shall  be 
recorded  in  the  number  of  grandees,  and  accounted  as  such.' " l 

To  such  extremes  of  caprice  and  violence,  destructive  of  all 
liberty  and  safety,  are  such  governments  naturally  and  necessa 
rily  reduced.f 

u  The  city  of  Pistoia  had  also  in  its  regimen  a  syndic.  This 
was  an  officer  who  was  called  an  Elder,  or  Syndic-General, 

*  Scribantur  et  ponantur  in  numero  magnatum  et  potentum,  et  pro  magnati- 
bus  et  potentibus  habeantur.  Fioravanti,  p.  22. 

f  The  devices  on  the  standards,  seals,  and  coins  of  the  republic,  as  well  as  all 
other  antiquities,  are  not  within  the  design  of  this  essay ;  but  there  was  on  one 
of  their  standards  an  idea  that  contained  the  truest  emblem  of  their  government ; 
a  lamb  pursued  by  a  wolf,  with  the  motto,  Pace,  richezza,  superbia ;  guerra,  po- 
vertti,  umil/il ;  Peace,  riches,  and  pride ;  war,  poverty,  and  humility.  If  the  wolf 
is  construed  to  signify  the  majority,  and  the  lamb  the  minority,  as  there  was  nei 
ther  a  shepherd  nor  shepherd's  dog  to  interpose  between  them,  the  resemblance 
is  perfect. 

1  "A  peine  1'independance  des  cites  avoit  ete  reconnue  par  1'empereur,  quo  le 
peuple  crut  qu'il  etoit  temps  de  se  faire  rendre  compte  du  pouvoir  des  gentils- 
hommes,  qui  jusque  alors  avoient  administre  ses  affaires  avec  autant  de  patrio- 
tisme  que  de  bravoure  et  de  talent.  Cette  defiance  nouvelle  se  dirigeoit  centre  des 
homines  qui  auparavant  avoient  bien  merit6  des  republiques ;  toutefois  il  ne  faut 
point  1'attribuer  uniquement  au  developpement  de  1'ambition  et  a  la  vanite  des 
plebeiens,  ni  les  taxer  d'ingratitude.  Des  que  le  danger  qui  mena$oit  les  villes 
avoit  ete  ecarte,  les  interets  des  nobles  et  ceux  du  peuple  avoient  cesse  d'etre 
communs.  Les  premiers,  n'ayant  plus  en  vue  la  defense  publique,  s'etoient 
livres  de  nouveau  a  leur  projets  d'agrandissement  et  a  leur  ambition  de  famille. 
Une  independance  solitaire  leur  convenoit  micux  encore  qu'une  liberte  partagee 
avec  des  bourgeois ;  et  s'il  falloit  rechercher  la  faveur  d'une  puissance  a  laquelle 
ils  ne  vouloient  point  obeir,  ils  aimoient  mieux  faire  leur  cour  aux  empereurs  qu'au 
peuple."  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Rep.  Ital  torn.  2,  p.  236. 


346  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

who  must  be  forty  years  of  age,  and  live  forty  miles  from  the 
city.  His  duty  was  to  look  over  the  accounts  of  the  podesta, 
the  captain  of  the  people,  the  anziani,  and  all  the  magistrates 
and  officers  of  the  city  and  its  district,  when  they  resigned  or 
were  dismissed  from  their  charges.  There  were,  moreover,  ac 
cording  to  the  law  of  1402,  judges  of  appeals  in  all  causes,  civil, 
criminal,  and  mixed ;  and  to  them  belonged  the  cognizance  of  all 
disputes  and  regulations  concerning  provisions  ;  they  also  super 
intended  the  sumptuary  laws,  against  all  luxurious  excesses  in 
the  dress  and  ornaments  of  the  ladies ;  and  they  entertained  a 
number  of  notaries,  and  a  numerous  family  and  court,  for  the 
execution  of  all  services  appertaining  to  their  offices. 

"  The  city  of  Pistoia  being  in  this  state  of  government,  in 
1355,  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  arrived  at  Pisa,  and  the  citizens 
appeared  before  his  imperial  majesty,  and  gave  him  the  demon 
strations  of  vassalage  and  obedience  due  to  the  sovereignty 
which  he  held  over  their  city.  The  emperor  confirmed  to  them 
all  the  privileges  granted  by  his  august  predecessors  ;  and  desir 
ous  of  fixing  the  reputation  and  reverence  for  the  dignity  of  the 
gonfaloniers  of  justice,  he  enlarged  their  authority,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  anziani;  and  wishing  to  make  the  Pistoians  enjoy, 
quietly,  a  sort  of  liberty,  he  gave  them,  by  a  diploma  of  the 
twenty-sixth  of  May,  the  faculty  of  living  and  governing  them 
selves,  according  to  their  laws  and  laudable  customs,  in  a  free, 
popular  state,  under  the  regency  of  the  anziani  and  the  gonfalo 
niers  of  justice,  declaring  both  the  anziani  and  the  gonfaloniers, 
for  the  affairs  of  Pistoia  and  its  dominion,  his  vicars,  and  vicars 
of  the  empire,  for  the  whole  term  of  his  own  life.  "  The  an 
ziani,"  says  the  diploma,  "and  the  gonfalonier  of  justice  of  the 
people,  and  commons  of  Pistoia,  who  now  are,  and  for  the  time 
to  come  shall  be,  in  office,  and  no  others,  we  constitute  our 
general  and  irrevocable  vicars,  for  the  whole  term  of  our  life, 
with  the  full  administration  in  the  city,  country,  and  district  of 
Pistoia,  and  in  all  its  lands,  castles,  and  places.  Pistoia  main 
tained  itself  in  this  state  of  a  republic  as  long  as  Charles  IV. 
lived ;  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  distance  and  negligence  of 
his  successors,  it  persevered  in  the  same  government  until  the 
year  1401,  when  the  Emperor  Robert,  by  his  charter,  declared  the 
gonfalonier  and  priors  of  the  arts  of  the  city  of  Florence  his 
vicars,  and  vicars  of  the  empire,  and  gave  them  the  govern- 


PISTOIA.  347 

ment  of  Arezzo,  Volterra,  Pistoia,  and  the  other  places  of  Tus 
cany." 

But  in  the  interval  between  these  periods,  the  Pistoians  were 
never  quiet;  for,  governing  themselves  in  what  they  called  a 
free  popular  state,  they  were  for  reducing  all  to  a  level,  and 
thought,  or  pretended,  to  make  all  the  citizens  enjoy  equally  the 
public  honors  and  offices  of  their  city. 

"  In  this  state  of  things,  the  rebellion  of  Sambuca  was  fo 
mented  by  some  of  the  citizens  of  Pistoia,  at  the  head  of  whom 
was  Riccardo  Cancellieri,  who  had  made  himself  master  of 
several  castles  in  the  mountains;  from  whence  he  made  in 
roads  on  the  whole  territory  of  Pistoia,  and  kept  the  inhabit 
ants  in  continual  alarms,  with  the  design  of  delivering  his 
country  into  the  hands  of  John  Galeazzo  Visconti,  Duke  of 
Milan.  Upon  this  occasion  the  imperial  vicars  in  Florence 
sent,  for  the  protection  of  Pistoia,  two  thousand  infantry,  some 
cavalry,  and  three  commissaries,  who,  calling  together  the  ge 
neral  council,  imposed  upon  the  counsellors  the  necessity  of 
doing  whatever  was  required  of  them,  that  they  might  not  incur 
still  greater  miseries.  In  the  first  place,  they  required  that  every 
resolution  and  statute  of  liberty,  and  every  condition,  article,  and 
confederation,  which  the  city  had,  should  be  annulled ;  and  then, 
by  another  resolution,  that  they  should  subject  themselves  to  the 
people  of  Florence,  with  liberal  authority  to  govern  Pistoia  at 
their  discretion.  This  proposition  of  the  Florentines  was  ill 
relished  by  the  Pistoians ;  and  while  the  council  was  debating 
on  it,  the  soldiery  took  possession  of  the  piazza  and  palace  of 
the  anziani;  and  having  understood  that  no  resolution  had 
passed,  they  began  with  drawn  swords  in  their  hands  to  cry, 
"  Florence  for  ever ! "  (  Viva  Firenze  !)  and  to  threaten  the  coun 
sellors.  Thus  intimidated,  they  by  an  ample  resolution  sud 
denly  surrendered  the  liberty  of  their  city  to  the  Florentines, 
from  that  day,  the  tenth  of  September,  1401,  to  the  calends  of 
January,  1402,  to  the  end  that  they  might  apply  a  summary 
remedy  to  the  evils  with  which  they  were  agitated  and  op 
pressed.  Thus  say  the  books  of  reformations  in  Florence ;  and 
then  were  painted  the  lions,  the  ensigns  of  Florence,  upon  the 
palace  of  the  syndic  of  the  city  of  Pistoia. 

"  It  was  not  long  before  these  imperial  vicars,  availing  them 
selves  of  the  authority  given  them  by  the  emperor,  and  of  that 


348  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

given  them  by  the  Pistoians  themselves,  sent  to  Pistoia  four 
commissaries  to  reform  the  public  offices.  These,  desirous,  as 
they  said,  of  smoothing  the  passions  of  the  chiefs  which  had 
disturbed  the  quiet  of  the  city  of  Pistoia,  proposed  that  the 
forms  and  orders  of  the  city  of  Florence  should,  as  much  as 
possible,  be  imitated;  and  that  the  twelve  buoni  Jwmini  should 
be  called  the  Twelve  of  the  College  ;  and  that  the  supreme  magis 
tracy  of  the  anziani  should  be  no  longer  denominated  the  An- 
ziani  of  the  People,  but  the  Priors  of  the  People;  and,  not 
making  any  innovation  in  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  that  he 
should  retain  the  same  name.  The  prior  of  the  anziani  was  to 
be  called  Proposto  or  President  of  the  Priori,  according  to  the 
words  of  the  reform,  'And  the  priors  shall  have  among  them 
selves  one  president  continually,  who  shall  continue  three  days 
in  this  manner.  After  the  oaths  of  office  shall  be  taken,  they 
shall  cause  nine  votes,  with  their  names,  to  be  put  into  a  purse 
by  a  notary,  one  of  which  shall  be  drawn  out  for  a  president, 
and  so  successively  during  the  term  of  their  office.' 

"  The  Florentines  having  thus  limited  and  restrained  the  pri 
vileges  of  the  Pistoians,  or  made  the  election  of  the  anziani, 
and  given  them  the  name  of  priors,  they  made  eight  purses,  in 
the  proportion  of  two  for  each  gate,  and  regulated  themselves 
according  to  the  plan  in  1376  ;  in  which  year,  to  take  away  the 
scandalous  names  of  the  two  factions  of  Bianchi  and  Neri, 
Whites  and  Blacks,  two  companies  were  instituted,  one  called 
the  Company  of  St.  John,  and  the  other  of  St.  Paul,  and  one 
prior  was  drawn  for  the  gate  of  one  company,  and  another  for 
the  other ;  and  the  gonfalonier  of  justice  was  drawn,  at  one 
time  from  the  company  of  St.  John,  and  at  another  from  that  of 
St.  Paul.  This  manner  of  drawing  the  magistracy  of  the  priori 
was  changed  in  1427,  when  they  began  to  be  drawn  from  two 
different  purses,  the  first  and  the  second. 

"  In  1417,  the  Pistoians,  considering  that  in  so  great  a  change 
of  affairs  they  ought  to  make  some  advancement  of  the  dignity 
of  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  ordained  that  the  first  place  in 
rank  should  no  longer  be  held  by  the  president  and  rector  of  the 
city,  but  by  the  gonfalonier.  Thus  says  the  law,  '  That  the  gon 
falonier  of  justice  shall  always  hold  the  more  dignified  place, 
and  after  him  the  president ;  and  in  like  manner,  in  going  out, 
with  the  rector  and  other  officers  of  the  city  of  Pistoia.'  This 


PISTOIA.  349 

law  was  ratified  by  the  law  of  1437 ;  and  from  this  it  followed, 
that  in  1463  they  began  to  make  for  the  president,  who  was  to 
continue  in  that  office,  a  purse  by  itself ;  as  it  was  determined,  in 
1471,  that  for  the  future  two  should  be  drawn  from  that  purse, 
and  the  oldest  man  of  them  should  be  the  first  to  occupy  the 
president's  place,  unless  the  younger  were  a  doctor  of  laws; 
and  this  was  called  the  purse  of  the  president ;  the  first  of  whom 
had  the  power  of  speaking  and  answering  first  in  all  meetings ; 
which  power  however  ceased,  in  the  first  president,  in  the  year 
1492,  when  it  was  determined,  that  the  right  of  sitting  and 
speaking  first  should,  in  all  occurrences,  be  enjoyed  by  the  gon 
falonier  of  justice ;  and  thus  this  office  of  gonfalonier  of  justice, 
rising  continually  in  dignity,  began  by  little  and  little  to  be 
desired  by  the  nobles  ;  and,  by  common  consent  and  a  public 
decree,  it  became  confined  to  the  nobles  alone. 

"  The  supreme  magistracy  of  the  priori  becoming  a  little 
civilized,  the  purse  of  the  president  got  to  be  considered  as  the 
first  after  that  of  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  and  that  of  the 
priors  which  was  the  first  became  the  second ;  but,  because  four 
subjects  were  drawn  from  this,  it  was  called  the  Purse  of  Four; 
and  the  other,  which  was  called  the  Second  of  the  Priori,  be 
came  the  third,  and  was  called,  from  this  time,  the  Common 
Purse,  in  which  all  citizens  qualified  for  offices  should  remain,  at 
least  for  the  period  of  one  renewal,  although  by  his  condition  of 
birth,  merit,  and  age,  he  might  be  qualified  for  a  purse  of  higher 
rank.  When  it  was  afterwards  established,  that  the  descendants 
by  the  male  line,  of  men  of  rank,  and  of  presidents,  should  no 
longer  enter  upon  the  office  of  prior  through  that  purse,  but  through 
that  of  four,  the  same  was  called  no  longer  the  Common  Purse,  but 
the  Third ;  whence,  by  virtue  of  this  new  order  of  magistrature,  we 
read,  in  1475,  of  one  gonfalonier  of  justice,  two  presidents,  four 
of  the  first,  and  two  of  the  second  purse,  and  one  notary,  with 
the  preference  to  the  gonfalonier  of  sitting  first,  given  him  by 
the  law  of  1474,  which  says,  '  The  gonfalonier  shall  obtain  the 
first  and  most  dignified  place.' 

By  the  few  memorials  that  remain  in  the  archives  of  Pistoia 
it  appears,  that  there  have  been  many  and  various  councils  of 
citizens,  for  the  regulation  of  the  public  affairs  of  the  city,  in 
which  councils  the  supreme  authority  of  government  resided; 
and  before  the  construction  of  the  public  palace,  all  these  coun- 

VOL.  v.  30 


350  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

cils  were  assembled  in  a  church,  at  the  election  of  the  head  of 
the  supreme  magistracy  of  the  anziani.  The  council  of  the 
people,  from  the  year  in  which  the  anziani  were  instituted,  until 
1477,  had  the  privilege  to  make  the  renewals  of  the  magistrates 
and  public  officers  of  the  city ;  in  which  year  it  was  ordained, 
that  such  renewal  should  be  made  by  those  who  had  been  drawn 
gonfaloniers  of  justice,  and  workmen  of  St.  James.  These 
riformatori  began  to  be  called  men  of  rank  (g-raduati)  for  being 
arrived  at  the  first  two  grades  and  honors  of  the  city,  which  at 
that  time  were  the  offices  of  gonfalonier  of  justice,  and  of  a 
workman  of  St.  James ;  and,  for  the  first  time,  they  are  found 
thus  named  in  the  reform  of  1483 ;  from  which  time  it  was 
established  by  law,  that  two  of  each  family  should  assist,  to 
make  the  renewal  of  public  offices,  and  that  the  number  of 
thirty-three  should  be  sufficient  to  make  the  renewal  with  va 
lidity.  And  this  order  of  the  graduati,  or  men  of  distinction,  is 
that  by  which,  at  this  day,  the  nobility  of  the  city  of  Pistoia  is 
most  clearly  distinguished.  In  the  year  1521,  the  assigned  num 
ber  of  the  graduati  to  make  the  renewal  of  the  public  officers 
failing,  there  were  elected  certain  citizens,  of  the  other  noble  and 
popular  families,  to  whom  was  given  the  name  of  Arruoti;  and 
it  was  established  as  the  duty  of  these  to  assist  in  making  the 
renewal ;  and  this  lasted  till  1580. 

"  In  the  times  of  the  consuls  we  read,  that  there  was  a  council 
of  a  hundred  citizens,  who  were  chosen  by  four  men  of  good 
fame,  twenty-five  for  each  of  the  four  gates  of  the  city ;  without 
this  council,  neither  the  consuls  nor  the  podesta  could  determine 
any  thing ;  and  when  there  arose  a  question  of  peace,  war,  or 
taxes,  besides  the  council  of  a  hundred,  all  the  rettori  of  the 
chapels  and  arts  assisted." 

And  as  upon  these  occasions  the  consuls,  podesta,  counsel 
lors  of  the  hundred,  and  rectors  of  chapels  and  arts,  all  met  in 
one  assembly,  and  determined  all  things  by  a  majority  of  votes, 
which,  as  has  been  before  observed,  made  it  a  government  in 
one  centre  (an  aristocracy  in  reality,  though  a  popular  state  in 
name)  and  consequently  some  two  or  three  families  must  always 
be  at  the  head  of  it,  and  constantly  contending  for  the  supe 
riority,  this  kept  the  people  in  perpetual  contention. 

"  There  was  another  council,  as  appears  by  the  records,  formed 
of  fourteen  citizens,  and  of  all  the  doctors  and  advocates,  which 


PISTOIA.  351 

was  destined  to  counsel  the  podesta ;  as  he  himself,  after  having 
made  his  election  of  them,  was  obliged  to  regulate  himself  by 
their  advice.  Such  was  his  oath ;  '  And  I  will  consult  my 
counsellors,  through  the  whole  time  of  my  government,  in  things 
which  shall  appear  to  me  to  regard  the  common  honor  and 
utility  of  our  city  of  Pistoia.' " 

As  neither  the  podesta  nor  this  council  had  any  negative  on 
the  legislative  council  of  a  hundred,  yet,  since  the  podesta  had 
the  choice  of  the  members  of  the  smaller  body,  that  was  no  doubt 
composed  of  his  friends  in  the  council  of  a  hundred,  in  which 
case  it  is  plain  that  the  same  persons  and  families  must  have  had 
the  chief  influence  and  direction  of  affairs  in  both ;  so  that  this 
executive  council  had  the  same  centre  with  the  legislative  council. 

"  It  is  further  found,  that  in  the  first  times  of  the  government 
of  the  twelve  anziani,  namely,  in  1267,  there  were  two  councils, 
one  of  forty  counsellors  of  the  captain  of  the  people  and  of  the 
anziani  who  were  required  to  be  of  an  age  above  forty  years, 
and  their  office  continued  six  months ;  and  they  resolved  upon 
all  propositions  which  were  proposed  to  them  by  the  captain  of 
the  people  and  the  anziani,  provided  they  were  not  contrary  to 
the  laws  and  regulations  of  the  commons  and  people.  The 
other  council  was  called  the  Council  of  Two  Hundred  Coun 
sellors  of  the  people;  and  in  the  assemblies  of  this  council 
assisted  all  the  aforesaid  forty,  and,  moreover,  all  the  captains, 
gonfaloniers,  and  counsellors  of  the  companies  of  the  people, 
and  all  the  rettori  and  counsellors  of  the  arts,  and  all  those  who 
had  been  anziani" 

The  fabric  of  this  government,  and  its  spirit,  was  the  same 
with  the  former,  only  the  name  of  captain  of  the  people  was 
substituted  for  that  of  podesta,  and  a  council  of  forty  was  sub 
stituted  to  that  of  fourteen,  and  a  council  of  two  hundred  to 
that  of  one.  The  alteration  therefore  was  not  at  all  for  the 
better. 

"  After  1330,  there  was  one  council,  called  the  General  Coun 
cil  ;  this  was  formed  of  a  hundred  citizens,  namely,  fifty  popu 
lar1  men,  and  fifty  grandees  (mag-nati).  In  this  council  assisted 
all  the  members  of  the  council  of  the  people,  all  the  gentry,  all 
the  doctors  of  laws,  and  all  the  physicians  of  Pistoia,  matricu- 

1  " Popolari"  the  common  people  as  distinguished  from  the  nobles. 


352  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

lated  in  the  college  of  physicians.  But  this  council  had  of  itself 
no  authority,  and  could  do  nothing  without  the  council  of  the 
people.  In  like  manner,  after  the  same  year,  1330,  the  principal 
council  of  Pistoia  was  that  of  the  people,  in  which  assisted  all 
the  a/nziani,  gonfaloniers  of  justice,  and  their  notaries,  and  two 
hundred  popular  citizens ;  and  none  of  the  grandees  could  be  of 
this  council.  They  were  elected  fifty  for  each  gate.  The  au 
thority  of  this  council  was  supreme  and  sovereign,  to  make  and 
repeal  laws,  impose  and  take  off  taxes,  &c.  In  more  ancient 
times,  as  appears  by  the  rubric  62,  of  the  law  of  1267,  the 
council  of  the  people  had  consisted  of  six  hundred  citizens  ;  but 
because  such  a  multitude  generated  confusion,  it  was  reduced 
to  two  hundred  in  1270. 

"  But  the  government  of  longest  duration  in  Pistoia  was  that 
of  the  eight  priors  of  the  people,  and  one  gonfalonier  of  justice ; 
and  this  body  was  called  the  Supreme  Magistracy  of  the  City,  and 
was  renewed  every  two  months,  from  the  four  purses,  in  the  palace 
of  its  residence.  When  they  proceeded  to  draw  these  magistrates, 
with  solemn  pomp,  the  box  was  taken  from  the  treasury  of  St. 
James,  within  which  were  locked  up,  with  four  keys,  all  the 
votes  of  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  and  it  was  carried  in  pro 
cession,  accompanied  by  the  magistrates  of  all  the  colleges,  with 
trumpets  sounding,  into  the  public  palace.  Here  the  gonfalonier 
of  justice  was  drawn  from  the  first  purse,  who  was  the  head  of 
this  magistracy,  and  not  only  enjoyed  the  supreme  dignity,  and 
the  preeminence  in  place,  robes,  habitation,  and  in  all  other 
respects,  but  answered  in  the  name  of  the  public ;  and  although 
in  public  affairs  he  could  not  rule  alone,  there  was  always  al 
lowed  him  a  right  of  freely  entering  when  he  would  into  the 
greater  council,  and  into  all  other  councils  and  colleges  where 
any  matters  of  importance  were  under  deliberation,  and  there 
give  his  opinion,  his  reasons,  and  his  vote.  This  gonfalonier 
was  a  man  of  gravity,  from  his  age;  and  that  he  might  be 
respectable  in  all  points,  it  was  required  that  he  should  be  of  an 
ancient  family;*  and  he  who  enjoyed  this  supreme  post  enjoyed 
a  jewel,  held  in  veneration  by  the  people,  and  in  great  esteem 
by  the  nobility.  There  were  then  drawn  from  the  other  purse 
two  persons,  who  were  called  presidents ;  and  these  were  some- 

*  Si  richiede  lunga,  e  continovata  chiarezza  di  sangue. 


PISTOIA.  353 

times  of  a  middle  age,  and  sometimes  old  men,  and  for  the  most 
part,  after  giving  proofs  of  their  wisdom  in  this  station,  they 
ascended,  either  by  means  of  their  birth  or  their  merit,  to  the 
rank  of  gonfalonier.  From  the  other  purse,  called  the  purse  of 
four,  were  successively  drawn  four  subjects  of  the  prime  nobility, 
or  at  least  of  middling  condition,  who,  for  the  most  part,  were  in 
younger  age ;  and  from  this  purse,  some  by  their  birth,  and  some 
by  their  merit  and  their  age,  passed  up  to  the  more  dignified 
purse  of  the  presidents,  and  sometimes  to  the  rank  of  graduati, 
or  men  of  distinction.  In  the  last  place  were  drawn  two  per 
sons  from  the  third  purse,  in  which  were  contained  the  names  of 
all  the  citizens  who  had  not  made  any  advancement  in  the  other 
purses,  or  had  been  of  families  worthy  only  of  the  purse  of  four, 
and  among  these  were  found  those  who  exercised  civil  and 
liberal  arts ;  and  these  did  not  diminish  the  dignity  of  the  ma 
gistracy,  but  rather  gave  occasion  to  maintain  the  union  between 
the  plebeians  and  the  nobility ;  for  with  this  compensation,  the 
former  remained  long  quiet,  without  any  insurrection.  This 
magistracy  had  in  the  service  of  its  ministry  a  chancellor,  who 
was  a  notary  public,  and  was  drawn  from  a  purse  destined  for 
that  purpose.  This  magistracy  began  their  offices  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  first  day  of  the  month,  in  their  senatorial  robes. 
Each  of  the  priors  wore  a  robe  of  scarlet  lined  with  red  damask,, 
vulgarly  called  a  gown  (lucco),  with  a  hat  or  bonnet  lined  with 
a  cloth  of  black  silk,  with  its  ribbon  and  tassel  of  black  crape,, 
and  upon  the  left  shoulder  a  large  knot  of  crimson  satin,  which 
was  commonly  called  becca;  and  the  chancellor  wore  a  gown  of 
black  cloth,  lined  with  red  cloth,  without  the  knot  upon  the 
shoulder,  but  with  a  hat  similar  to  those  of  the  priori,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  draw  up  and  sign  the  acts  of  this  magistracy;  but 
the  gonfalonier  of  justice  was  clothed  with  a  robe  of  red  velvet, 
with  a  similar  shoulder-knot,  and  his  head  was  covered  with  a 
broad  hat,  of  a  noble  appearance,  the  name  of  which  is  tocco.1 

"  This  magistracy,  thus  clothed  and  ornamented,  after  the 
discharge  of  the  old  magistracy,  took  the  oaths  of  office,  in  the 
public  view  of  the  people,  in  the  larger  piazza,  and  under  the 
ample  covering  of  it,  built  in  1332  with  the  revenues  of  the  ex- 


1  In  the  original  work,  the  author  deems  the  hat  of  importance  enough  to 
justify  an  engraved  representation  of  its  form. 

30*  W 


354  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

else,  or  gabelhs,  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  city ;  and,  after 
having  taken  the  oaths,  they  went  in  procession,  with  the 
standard  of  justice,  to  the  chapel  of  St.  James  the  apostle,  pro 
tector  of  the  city,  and  thence  to  the  palace  of  their  residence, 
which  was  spacious  enough  to  receive,  in  the  year  1536,  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.,  in  all  the  forms  of  majesty.  None  of 
the  component  members  of  that  magistracy  could  go  out  pri 
vately  ;  but  only  when  in  some  determined  function  was  it 
permitted  to  the  whole  body  of  the  magistracy  to  go  out  of  their 
palace  with  solemn  pomp.  This  magistracy  resided  with  its 
chancellor,  night  and  day,  in  the  palace,  to  the  end  that  all  pub 
lic  business  might  be  despatched  with  the  greater  vigilance,  for 
the  good  government  of  the  city ;  and  they  drew  from  the 
commons  a  sufficient  appointment,  both  for  the  maintenance  of 
their  tables,  and  of  six  and  twenty  persons  destined  to  their  ser 
vice,  and  for  the  honorable  management  of  the  furniture  of  their 
palace,  the  linen  for  their  persons  and  households,  and  of  their 
plate,  and  all  other  things  necessary  for  their  use  in  the  time  of 
the  government.  This  magistracy  also  entertained  a  chaplain, 
with  a  handsome  salary." 

We  may  pass  over  the  tedious  description  of  feasts  and  pub 
lic  processions,  and  say, — 

"  That  the  gonfalonier  of  justice  was  the  head,  not  only  of  the 
supreme  magistracy,  but  also  of  all  other  subaltern  magistracies 
which  were  in  the  commonwealth,  and  without  him  there  could 
not  be  convened  any  council  of  the  citizens,  to  engage  in  any 
public  deliberation.  This  magistrate,  while  the  public  residence 
continued,  was  attended,  whenever  he  went  out  of  the  palace, 
by  a  retinue  consisting  of  one  person,  who,  with  the  title  of  fiscal, 
resided  in  Pistoia,  of  one  assessor,  versed  in  the  profession  of 
the  law,  of  the  captain  of  infantry,  of  two  architects  of  the 
palace,  of  the  steward  of  provisions,  of  the  chancellor  del  danno 
dato,  of  the  master  of  the  house,  and  of  six  and  twenty  servants; 
and  in  the  performance  of  religious  ceremonies,  and  in  some  of 
the  principal  assemblies,  this  magistrate  had  a  retinue  of  magis 
trates  and  nobility,  which  gave  him  more  splendor  than  a 
crown. 

"  The  magistrates,  upon  whom  depended  the  right  govern 
ment  of  the  city  of  Pistoia,  are,  besides  those  already  named,  all 
these  which  follow;  some  determine  upon  public  affairs,  others 


PISTOIA.  355 

preside  in  judicature,  others  superintend  the  common,  others 
private  interests  ;  these  watch  over  health,  those  over  plenty ; 
some  attend  to  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  and  others  to 
politics.1  These  magistrates  are  the  twelve  collegi;  six  for  peti 
tions  ;  two  for  the  works  in  the  palace  of  the  supreme  magis 
trates  ;  the  two  companions ;  the  captain  of  infantry,  who  in 
ancient  times  was  called  by  the  name  of  captain  of  the  families 
of  the  anziani,  and  who,  in  primitive  times,  was  called  by  the 
name  of  votalarche,  the  institution  of  which  office  was  most 
ancient.  The  six  laborers  of  St.  James,  besides  other  commis 
sions,  held  the  care  of  the  markets,  and  were,  exclusively  of  all 
other  magistrates  and  lawgivers  of  Pistoia,  the  judges  and  over 
seers  of  all  offences  touching  provisions,  and  constituted  the  first 
magistracy  of  the  nobles;  because  he  who  is  denominated  a 
laborer  of  St.  James  enjoys  the  noble  rank  of  the  graduati,  a 
dignity  and  charge  of  equal  nobility,  although  of  different  func 
tion  and  command,  with  that  of  gonfalonier  of  justice,  as  this 
office  confers  the  character  and  distinction  of  nobility  both  upon 
the  person  and  the  family.  There  are  also  the  four  officers  of 
the  pious  house  of  wisdom ;  the  four  operai  of  the  holy  virgin  of 
humility ;  the  magistrate  over  the  rivers  and  roads ;  the  laborers 
of  St.  John  and  St.  Zeno ;  the  magistracy  of  buoni  homini  over  the 
prisons ;  the  ministers  of  the  Monte  di  Pieta ;  the  ministers  of  salt ; 
the  ministers  of  pledges  deposited  ;  the  approvers  of  the  excises  ; 
the  purveyor  for  the  commons;  the  four  over  civil  suits  ;  the  two 
over  the  restitution  of  taxes ;  the  two  over  the  public  schools  ;  the 
deputies  superintending  the  poor ;  the  deputies  for  the  assessment 
of  taxes;  the  magistrates  of  abundance;  the  magistrates  of  health; 
the  judges  of  controversies  relative  to  beasts  ;  the  four  peace-mak 
ers  ;  the  ministers  of  the  trumpet ;  the  eight  reformers ;  the  min 
isters  of  the  commons ;  the  ministers  of  the  customhouse ;  the 
syndics  of  the  reltori ;  the  deputies  over  the  workhouse  of  the 
poor ;  the  auditors ;  the  college  of  judges ;  the  notaries  ;  the  ret- 
tori  of  the  arts ;  the  tribunal  of  damages  done ;  the  clerks  who 
assist  in  civil  suits  ;  the  magistracy  of  three  judges,  who  are 
foreigners  ;  but  at  present,  as  the  public  revenues  are  farmed  out, 
these  are  suspended,  and  in  their  place  the  treasurer  of  the  city 
is  introduced  to  decide  the  controversies  of  the  people,  with  the 

1  "  alia  politica,"  the  general  policy. 


356  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

liberty  of  appeal  to  the  grand  ducal  chamber  at  Florence,  in  cases 
of  denial  of  justice.  The  appeal  from  civil  causes,  determined 
by  these  magistrates,  is  sometimes  to  the  supreme  magistracy  of 
the  priori  and  the  gonfalonier  of  justice  of  the  city,  in  the  name 
of  whom,  and  under  the  impression  of  whose  seal,  the  public 
decrees  are  despatched. 

"  There  is,  moreover,  a  council  general  of  the  people,  formed 
of  sixty  citizens,  and  their  office  continues  six  months ;  at  this 
council  the  priors  of  the  people,  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  the 
twelve  collegi^  and  the  six  for  petitions  assist.  This  council 
holds  the  supreme  authority  of  the  city,  and  has  jurisdiction  over 
all  the  magistrates  who  transgress  their  offices,  and  has  the 
faculty  to  treat  and  despatch  the  most  important  affairs  of  the 
state  of  Pistoia,  to  make  and  repeal  laws,  name  ambassadors, 
dispense  offices,  lay  on  and  take  off  taxes,  and  to  give  all  assist 
ance  to  the  other  magistrates,  who  have  their  peculiar  duties ; 
and  each  member  may  oppose  a  decision  on  any  question  under 
deliberation,  that  it  may  be  referred  to  another  session,  to  be 
approved  or  rejected  on  mature  consideration. 

"  For  the  most  weighty  business  of  the  government,  there  is 
a  council  composed  of  the  old  and  new  council  of  the  people, 
the  priors  of  the  people,  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  the  twelve  of 
the  college,  the  six  of  petitions,  all  the  graduati,  the  resident 
officers  of  the  pious  house  of  wisdom,  and  all  the  resident 
gonfaloniers,  who  decide  as  to  the  majority  appears  most  useful 
and  advantageous  for  the  public  good.  Here  all  the  most  mo 
mentous  affairs  and  causes  most  interesting  to  the  public  are 
digested. 

"  There  is  also  a  council  of  graduati,  which  had  its  beginning 
in  1483,  and  is  composed  of  two  persons  for  each  family,  of 
those  persons,  however,  who  actually  enjoy  the  dignity  of  the 
gradual^  which  is  the  first  of  the  honors  of  the  city ;  and  three 
and  thirty  members  are  sufficient  to  form  a  valid  council,  to 
which  it  belongs  to  promote  persons  and  families  to  the  citizen 
ship  of  Pistoia,  and  to  public  offices  and  honors.  Every  five 
years,  this  council,  together  with  the  gonfalonier  of  justice,  and 
the  eight  reformers,  put  to  a  secret  vote  all  the  persons  who 
enjoy  the  citizenship  of  Pistoia,  and  reward  or  condemn  them, 
as  justice  requires.  They  renew  the  imborsations  of  public 
offices  and  honors,  and  give  or  take  away  from  all  as  they  please; 


PISTOIA.  357 

examining  well  the  grades  of  citizenship,  of  nobility,  of  antiquity, 
merits  and  demerits  in  all  persons  and  families,  over  whom  they 
keep  a  watchful  eye,  in  order  to  prevent  all  occasion  of  confu 
sion,  disorder,  and  disturbance,  which  might  happen  through  the 
discordant  pretensions  of  the  citizens  ;  and  thus  guarded  and 
established,  they  come  from  time  to  time  to  the  distribution  of 
those  offices  for  which  there  is  occasion. 

"  Pistoia  has  also  its  dispenser  of  laws,  (giusdicentej)  the  duty 
of  whom  is  to  take  care  of  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  citi 
zens,  and  to  distribute  justice,  both  according  to  the  municipal 
laws,  and  conformably  to  the  will  of  the  sovereign ;  and  from 
ancient  times  his  post  was  occupied  by  the  podesta,  introduced 
by  the  emperors  into  all  the  cities  of  Italy ;  and  because  that,  in 
the  league  that  was  called  the  confederation  of  Tuscany,  con 
cluded  in  1197  between  many  places  and  cities  of  that  province, 
for  their  common  defence  against  the  rights,  or  at  least  claims, 
of  the  emperor,  in  order  to  stretch  the  limits  of  their  liberty,1 
Pistoia  had  her  place,  and  elected,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the 
association,  her  head,  with  the  title  of  captain,  to  whom  were 
confided,  as  the  law  required,  all  her  affairs  and  pretensions, 
therefore,  in  1200,  it  is  said  that  Pistoia  had  for  her  captain  one 
by  the  name  of  Gualdaccio ;  from  which  year,  until  1529,  there 
was  always  elected  by  the  Pistoians,  and  by  those  who  had  the 
government  of  Pistoia,  a  governor,  (rettore,)  together  with  the 
podesta,  for  the  good  direction  of  the  affairs  of  that  city. 

"  Afterwards  it  happened,  that  in  the  great  tumults  between 
the  factions  of  the  Panchiatici  and  the  Cancellieri,  there  were 
elected  by  the  Florentines  thirteen  commissaries,  to  establish  the 
peace  between  them  ;  and  among  the  multitude  of  things  which 
they  did  in  1502,  they  annulled  the  office  of  captain,  and  created 
that  of  commissary ;  and  thus  in  some  years  the  officer  was  called 
commissary,  and  in  others  captain  commissary,  and  in  others  they 
returned  to  the  old  name  of  captain.  In  1529,  the  Pistoians, 
finding  themselves  in  great  difficulties,  doubtful  whether  they 
should  be  able  to  govern  themselves,  and  dreading  the  devasta 
tions  of  the  army  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  which  was  near 
their  confines,  sent  ambassadors  to  Bologna,  to  supplicate  Cle 
ment  VII.,  who  was  then  in  that  city,  that  he  would  condescend 

1  "  per  dilatare  i  limiti  della  loro  usurpata  liberta." 


358  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

to  defend  their  city  from  the  imminent  danger,  and  take  it  under 
his  protection  ;  and  they  delivered  him  the  keys  of  it ;  which  the 
pontiff,  in  his  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  who 
fought  for  the  obedience  of  the  Florentines,  and  the  other  cities 
of  Tuscany,  with  great  alacrity  accepted,  and  immediately  sent 
Alexander  di  Gerardo  Corsini  for  the  government  and  custody 
of  Pistoia,  with  the  title  of  commissary ;  and  therefore  it  fol 
lowed  that  a  podesta  or  captain  was  not  elected  afterwards,  with 
the  exception  of  three  years,  but  one  magistrate  alone,  with  the 
title  of  commissary-general,  as  was  ever  after  the  custom. 

"  The  Emperor  Charles  V.,  having,  in  1530,  reduced  the  Flo 
rentines  and  their  confederates,  by  force,  to  submission  to  the 
empire,  and  restored  in  Florence  the  house  of  Medici,  who  had 
been  banished  by  their  fellow-citizens,  consigned  to  them  the 
government  and  dominion  of  Tuscany.  Pistoia  did  not  hesitate 
a  moment  in  its  obedience  to  the  new  regent  of  the  province,  by 
which  ready  submission  they  obtained  from  him  the  privilege  of 
continuing  to  govern  themselves  according  to  their  own  laws  and 
laudable  customs ;  and  they  continued  to  receive,  in  place  of  a 
podesta  and  captain,  a  commissary-general  for  their  defender  and 
governor ;  for  all  the  time  that  the  government  of  the  house  of 
Medici  lasted,  in  order  to  maintain  the  charge  with  suitable 
dignity,  it  was  their  custom  always  to  confer  it  on  some  senator 
of  Florence. 

"  The  government  of  the  house  of  Medici  terminating  in  the 
year  1737,  by  failure  of  the  succession,  it  was  conferred,  by  the 
Emperor  Charles  VI.,  on  Francis  III.,  Duke  of  Lorraine  and 
Bar.  This  new  lord  of  Tuscany,  pursuing  the  same  system  of 
government  of  the  house  of  Medici,  has  continued  to  furnish  the 
city  of  Pistoia  with  a  commissary-general,  if  not  a  senator,  re 
spectable  at  least  for  his  nobility,  who,  regulating  the  government 
by  the  laws  of  the  city,  has  always  enabled  it  to  enjoy  a  perfect 
tranquillity. 

"  Francis  II.,  grand  duke  of  Tuscany,  in  1749,  conceiving  a 
good  opinion  of  Pistoia,  as  a  city  of  merit,  and  in  all  things 
respectable,  and  wishing  to  raise  its  dignity  and  honor,  annulled 
the  office  of  commissary-general,  and  confided  the  government 
to  a  minister,  with  the  title  of  governor."  * 

*  Fioravanti,  p.  38. 


PISTOIA.  359 

In  a  city,  where  every  interest  seemed  to  be  guarded  by  par 
ticular  magistrates,  where  so  many  changes  were  made  in  their 
form  of  government  in  order  to  find  one  which  would  please 
and  satisfy  the  people,  one  might  expect  to  find  happiness,  if 
it  were  possible  that  it  should  exist  where  legislative  and  execu 
tive  powers  were  confounded  together  in  one  assembly.  But  if 
we  go  over  again  the  several  periods  of  the  history  of  Pistoia, 
we  shall  find  that  similar  causes  had  the  same  effects. 

"At  the  end  of  the  eleventh  and  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century,1  civil  discords  in  Pistoia  generated  much  misery ;  and 
many  families,  fearing  that  they  should  have  still  greater  evils 
to  suffer,  determined  to  abandon  their  country  ;  and,  as  a  lesson 
to  their  mad  and  cruel  fellow-citizens  whom  they  left  behind 
them,  they  caused  an  inscription  to  be  engraved  on  the  inside,  on 
the  gates,  *  Habbi  pazienzia,'  (have  patience,)"  a  motto  that 
ought  to  be  written  over  the  door,  and  engraven  on  the  heart, 
of  every  citizen  in  such  a  government,  "  and  went  to  inhabit 
other  countries. 

"  Italy  beginning,  in  1112,  to  be  infected  with  the  contagious 
disease  of  the  factions  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  destruct 
ive  insurrections  and  tumults  were  raised  in  Pistoia ;  and  the 
citizens,  infected  with  a  spirit  of  cruelty  against  each  other, 
without  fear  of  human  or  divine  chastisement,  attended  to 
nothing  but  party  quarrels,  and  mutual  slaughter  and  murder;" 
arid  these  contests  involved  the  city  in  continual  wars,  foreign 
and  domestic,  till  the  year  1235,  when  "  the  podesta,  a  wise  man 
and  a  nobleman  of  high  rank,  exerted  all  his  prudence,  vigilance, 
and  solicitude,  to  repress  and  compose  the  tumults  of  the  no 
bles  and  popular  party,  who,  on  account  of  the  government, 
were  grown  unusually  fierce  and  insolent ;  but  not  being  able  to 
reconcile  differences  so  inveterate,  nor  prevent  the  cruelties  which 
both  parties,  regardless  of  his  menaces  and  punishments,  daily 
committed,  the  city  was  thought  to  be  in  evident  danger  of  total 
desolation.  As  some  of  the  citizens  had  given  assistance  to  the 
Conte  Guido  de'  Conti  Guidi,  who  was  become  odious  to  other 
citizens  as  a  supporter  of  Ghibellines,  tumults  were  multiplied, 
till  the  city  was  at  length  divided  in  two,  and  they  came  to  a 
fierce  battle.  As  one  party  would  not  mix  with  or  depend  upon 


Flora vanti,  cap.  x.  p.  164. 


360  f  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  other,  each  one  elected  its  podesta  and  consuls,  as  if  they 
had  been  separate  cities ;  and  a  war  was  maintained  between 
them  for  years  with  such  fury,  as  set  all  laws,  human  and  divine, 
at  defiance,  till,  exhausted  and  humbled  on  both  sides,  they  were 
forced  to  have  recourse  to  Rubaconte,  podesta  of  Florence,  under 
whose  mediation  a  peace  between  them  was  concluded,  with  a 
detail  of  articles,  to  the  performance  of  which  Florence  became 
guarantee.  In  consequence  of  this  mediation  and  peace,  Pistoia 
returned,  for  a  short  time,  to  her  flourishing  condition ;  so  that 
not  only  the  greater  powers  admired  her  felicity,  but  the  most 
formidable  of  the  other  cities  stood  in  awe  of  her.  But,  oh 
miserable  vicissitudes  of  ill  constituted  governments!*  to  the 
confusion  of  the  citizens  of  Pistoia,  the  other  cities,  by  some 
intervals  of  peace  and  union,  grew  powerful.  Pistoia  alone, 
by  the  continuance  of  quarrels,  factions,  and  civil  wars,  was 
reduced  to  weakness  in  command,  honor,  and  fortune." 

It  was  not  long  before  the  old  disputes  revived,  and  continued 
till  1251,  when  the  pope  was  obliged  to  interpose,  and  negotiate 
a  new  peace  between  the  parties  in  Pistoia.  But  this  peace 
could  not  be  effected  till  long  wars,  a  great  destruction  of  lives, 
and  a  general  desolation  of  the  lands  and  cities,  by  the  various 
leagues  and  alternate  confiscations  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the 
nobles  and  commons,  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  had  fatigued 
and  exhausted  all  parties. 

"  In  1260,  the  Ghibellines  of  Pistoia,  Florence,  Volterra,  and 
Prato,  could  no  longer  bear  the  insolence  and  impertinence  of 
the  contrary  faction.  They  therefore  formed  a  union  with  their 
friends  in  the  other  cities,  raised  armies,  and  renewed  the  wars ; 
and,  after  many  sharp  conflicts,  and  at  length  the  sanguinary 
battle  of  Monte-aperto,  they  turned  the  tide  of  fortune  and  the 
torrent  of  popular  passions  in  their  favor,  till  all  Tuscany  be 
came  Ghibelline,  excepting  Lucca  and  the  Florentine  exiles. 
At  the  instigation  of  the  Conte  Novello,  vicar  of  King  Manfred, 
Pistoia,  Florence,  Siena,  Pisa,  Volterra,  Saminiato,  Colle,  Prato, 
and  Poggibonzi,  raised  a  standing  army  to  make  war  upon 
Lucca,  because  this  city  was  the  asylum  of  their  fugitives." 
This  army  was  maintained  only  by  the  imposition  of  general 
and  very  heavy  taxes,  did  infinite  damage  in  the  country,  and  at 

*  "  Ma  oh  misere  vicende  del  mondo ! "     Flora vanti,  p.  219. 


PISTOIA.  361 

last,  in  1267,  obtained  a  peace  between  Pistoia  and  Lucca,  upon 
conditions,  one  of  which  was,  that  each  city  should  pardon  the 
other  all  the  injuries,  molestations,  discords,  offences,  damages, 
rapines,  homicides,  devastations,  and  conflagrations,  that  had 
been  committed. 

"  In  1268,1  the  Guelphs  in  Pistoia  were  much  displeased  that 
the  heads  of  the  Ghibellines,  banished  and  driven  out  from  their 
city,  should,  under  Astancollo  Panciatichi,  have  fortified  them 
selves  at  Lucciano,  a  castle  under  the  eyes  of  Pistoia ;  therefore 
they  ordered  Cialdo  Cancellieri,  their  podesta,  to  go  out  with  an 
armed  force  and  dislodge  them.  Panciatichi,  having  penetrated 
the  designs  of  the  Guelphs  in  Pistoia,  fearing  that  he  could  not 
resist  the  assault  of  his  enemies,  because  he  was  inferior  in 
force,  and  without  hopes  of  succor,  abandoned  the  post,  and 
went  to  Pisa,  where  he  united  himself  with  his  confederates ;  so 
that  Cancellieri,  finding  the  castle  empty  of  inhabitants,  plun 
dered  and  demolished  it,  and  caused  the  Panciatichi  to  be  ban 
ished  as  the  heads  of  that  faction,  whose  estates  were  all  con 
fiscated. 

"  The  party  spirit  of  the  citizens  of  Pistoia  having,  in  1270, 
in  some  measure  subsided,  by  means  of  the  government  of  the 
Universal  Pacificator  of  Tuscany,2  they  set  about  a  reformation 
of  their  magistrates;  and  considering  that  a  multitude  always 
generate  confusion,  they  reduced  to  two  hundred  their  general 
council,  which  had  been  composed  before  of  six  hundred  mem 
bers,  and  created  many  new  magistrates  and  jurisdictions,  to 
bring  into  order  the  affairs  of  their  government.  But  in  1284, 
there  arose  again  most  grievous  disorders,  by  reason  of  the 
ill  administration  of  justice;  and  the  general  council  elected 
the  wisest  citizens,  to  make  another  reformation  and  new  laws, 
and  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  among  the  principal  citizens 
who  disturbed  the  public  tranquillity.  But  all  their  regulations 
were  ineffectual ;  for  in  the  next  year,  1285,  fresh  disturbances 
were  perceived  in  the  city  of  Pistoia,  occasioned  by  certain 
families,  who,  by  means  of  copious  wealth,  and  the  adherence 
of  numerous  friends,  followers,  and  relations,  aspired  to  govern 
the  city  at  pleasure ;  but  as  the  wisest  men  exerted  themselves, 
that  their  public  affairs  should  depend  only  on  law  and  justice, 

i  Fioravanti,  c.  xv.  p.  229.  2  Charles  of  Anjou,  King  of  Naples. 

VOL.  V.  31 


362  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

not  upon  the  passions  and  caprice  of  individuals,  they  called 
together  the  general  council.  These  endeavored  to  render 
those  families  odious  and  unpopular,  as  well  as  the  title  by 
which  they  were  distinguished;  and  to  this  end  ordered,  that 
they  should  be  declared  "grandees,"  (magnati,)  who  by  their 
influence  and  power  disturbed  the  public  tranquillity  ;  and  to 
be  declared  a  grandee  became  equivalent  to  being  declared  a 
seditious  person,  impertinent,  and  separated  from  the  public 
government  of  the  city. 

"  The  dominant  party  ruled  the  Guelphs  so  arbitrarily,  com 
mitted  so  many  robberies  upon  them,  and  burned  and  destroyed 
so  much  of  their  property,  that  these  became  desperate,  and 
joining  the  exiles  from  many  cities,  raised  an  army,  which 
obliged  the  Pistoians,  and  the  governors  of  other  cities,  to  raise 
another  to  oppose  it,  at  an  expense  of  a  general  imposition  of 
taxes  upon  all  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  two  armies  met  in 
the  plain  of  Campaldino,  and  a  memorable  victory  was  gained 
by  the  Guelphs ;  and  fire  and  sword  were  again  scattered  wide 
in  consequence  of  this. 

"  In  1290,  another  fierce  tumult  arose  in  Pistoia,  between  the 
most  illustrious  families,  occasioned  by  a  sword  cut,  given  by 
Mone  Sinibaldi,  upon  the  face  of  Gio.  Vergiolesi.  Upon  this 
signal  there  was  a  general  insurrection ;  and  it  cost  all  the  art 
and  resolution  of  the  government,  to  do  justice,  to  prevent  ano 
ther  general  battle  ;  for  civil  discords  were  beyond  measure  in 
creased,  and  the  people,  without  any  bridle,  were  in  the  utmost 
danger  of  desolating  the  city,  and  leaving  it  empty  of  inhabit 
ants.  The  exiles  in  the  mean  time  took  their  stations  among 
the  mountains,  where  they  fortified  themselves,  and  made  incur 
sions  from  time  to  time,  robbing,  plundering,  burning,  and  mur 
dering,  without  control. 

"  Another  insurrection,  in  1296,  came  very  near  accomplish 
ing  the  final  ruin  of  Pistoia;  it  ended  in  a  bloody  battle,  in 
which  many  persons  lost  their  lives,  and  the  parties  remained  as 
inveterate  and  cruel  after  as  they  had  been  before  it.  Insurrec 
tions  and  tumults  continued  so  frequent,  that  the  bishop  fled  for 
fear,  the  merchants  could  do  no  business,  and  revolutions,  inso 
lence,  robberies,  assassinations,  daily  happened  ;*  and  such  dis- 

*  Le  rivoluzioni,  le  insolenze,  le  rubberie,  li  assassinamenti,  che  giornalmente 
accadevano,  &c.  Fioravanti,  p.  243. 


PIST01A.  363 

trust  was  fixed  in  the  minds  of  all  men,  that  all  lived  in  con 
tinual  fear  and  suspicion.  These  apprehensions  were  carried  to 
such  a  length,  that  each  one  shut  himself  up  in  his  house, 
with  the  friends  he  could  collect,  where  he  fortified  himself;  and 
those  who  had  not  towers  to  their  habitations  erected  them.* 
Sixty  towers  were  erected  in  this  single  city,  some  of  which 
still  remain  elevated  above  the  houses,  some  are  now  covered 
with  roofs,  others  since  included  in  the  buildings  as  they  have 
been  enlarged,  and  others,  from  time  to  time,  have  been  ruined 
and  destroyed  in  the  subsequent  wars.  It  is  to  be  noted,  that, 
by  law  or  by  custom,  towers  might  not  be  erected  but  by  the 
nobility,  and  these  had  their  measure ;  so  that,  to  avoid  envy, 
they  could  not  exceed  a  limited  height.  But  at  this  time  the  in 
surrections  of  the  citizens  and  of  the  people  of  the  castles  in  the 
high  lands  increasing,  seditious  and  perverse  people  were  found 
everywhere,  which  gave  occasion  and  motives  to  all  the  citizens 
to  think  of  their  houses ;  and  they  began,  through  the  whole 
state,  to  proceed  to  exemplary  punishments,  without  regard  to 
the  age,  condition,  or  sex  of  the  persons,  and  thus,  in  a  short 
time,  they  remedied  so  many  evils  and  tumults ;  and  besides  the 
quiet  that  resulted  to  the  city,  the  stimulus  had  an  effect  on  the 
castles,  in  the  mountains,  —  namely,  Cavinano,  Lizzano,  Popillio, 
Piteglio,  S.  Marcello,  Mammiano,  and  others, — to  make  that 
universal  peace  which  is  mentioned  in  the  archives  of  the  city." 

But  the  disorder  was  not  confined  to  the  common  citizens  in 
town  and  country,  it  originated  in  the  divisions  among  the  men 
of  birth,  fortune,  and  abilities,  in  the  government. 

"  The  contests  for  superiority  among  the  anziani  themselves, 
in  1298,  arose  to  such  a  degree,  that  from  argument,  intrigue, 
and  oratory,  they  proceeded  to  blows,  and,  after  a  rude  encoun 
ter,  the  weaker  party  fled  to  the  public  archives,  and  shut  and 
secured  the  door  in  the  faces  of  their  pursuers.  Those  without, 
finding  it  impossible  to  pursue  the  affray,  determined  to  take 
their  vengeance  by  fire ;  accordingly,  setting  fire  to  the  archives, 
those  within  remained,  together  with  all  the  papers,  files,  and 
records,  a  prey  and  a  triumph  to  devouring  flames." 

This  terrible  event,  as  may  well  be  believed,  produced  still 
greater  tumults  and  confusions,  which  were  terminated  at  last 

*  Fioravauti,  p.  244. 


364  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

by  a  calamity  of  another  kind,  more  terrible,  if  not  more  de 
structive,  a  continuance  of  earthquakes  for  eight  days  together, 
which  shook  down  houses  and  towers  more  effectually  than  the 
inhabitants  were  able  to  do.  This  event,  which  was  believed  by 
some  to  be  a  judgment  of  Heaven  for  the  animosities  of  the 
citizens,  it  was  hoped  would  promote  peace  and  benevolence 
among  them ;  but  they  soon  revived,  with  more  wickedness 
than  ever,  their  ancient  dissensions.1 

The  family  of  Cancellieri,  at  this  time  having  most  influence, 
both  by  the  riches  they  possessed,  and  by  their  great  numbers, 
amounting  to  a  hundred  men  in  arms,  as  brave  as  they  were 
haughty,  were  become  formidable  to  all  the  other  families  in 
Pistoia,  to  such  a  degree  that  all,  both  in  the  city  and  country, 
stood  in  fear  of  them.  It  happened  that  Carlino  di  Gualfredi, 
and  Dore,  or  Amadore,  the  son  of  William  Cancellieri,  being 
together  in  a  cellar,  where  they  had  drank  too  freely,  fell  into  a 
squabble,  in  which  Dore  was  beaten  and  insulted  with  out 
rageous  language,  which  offended  him  so  highly  that  he  medi 
tated  a  cruel  revenge.  Going  out  of  the  wine  cellar  in  this 
temper  of  mind,  Dore  went,  late  as  it  was  at  night,  and  laid 
himself  down  in  a  corner  of  the  street  by  which  Carlino  was 
used  to  pass,  and  there  happening  to  see  Vanni,  the  brother  of 
Carlino,  on  horseback,  without  thinking  of  his  innocence,  gashed 
him  in  the  face  by  a  blow  with  a  target,  and  by  another  stroke  cut 
off  part  of  his  left  hand.  In  this  deplorable  condition  Vanni  was 
carried  to  his  father,  who,  seeing  his  son  thus  barbarously  treated, 

1  "  A  vingt  milles  de  Florence,  sur  la  route  de  Lucques,  au  pied  des  Ap- 
penins  qui  separent  la  Toscane  d'avec  le  Modenois,  est  batie  la  ville  de  Pistoia. 
Malgre  la  fertilite  de  son  territoire  et  sa  riante  situation,  eette  cite  n'a  point  ac- 
quis  d'illustration  par  sa  population,  sa  richesse,  son  commerce,  ou  sa  puissance ; 
mais  en  revanche  la  violence  de  ses  revolutions,  et  la  haine  profonde  des  partis 
qui  la  diviserent,  repandirent  un  levain  de  discorde  sur  le  reste  de  la  Toscane  et 
presque  de  ITtalie,  et  susciterent  pour  une  offense  privee  et  une  querelle  de 
famille,  une  guerre  universelle.  Le  peuple  de  Pistoia  est  peut-etre  le  peuple 
le  plus  violent,  le  plus  emporte,  le  plus  factieux  dont  1'histoire  nous  ait  conserve 
le  souvenir.  C'est  un  peuple  qui  semble  avoir  eu  soif  de  guerres  civiles ;  il  ne 
fut  point  desaltere  de  sang  meme  apres  avoir  reduit  sa  patrie  a  n'avoir  qu'un  rang 
obscur  parmi  les  villes  d'ltalie ;  il  ne  se  reposa  point  sous  le  joug  du  despotisme 
qui,  etouffant  toutes  les  passions,  detruisant  tous  les  interets,  endort  presque 
toujours  les  peuples  dans  le  repos  de  la  mort ;  il  continua  de  combattre  apres  que 
la  liberte,  le  gouvernement,  la  gloirc,  ne  pouvoient  plus  exister  pour  lui ;  tel 
qu'un  des  geans  de  PArioste,  dans  la  clialeur  de  ses  batailles,  il  oublioit  qu'il  etoit 
mort.  Exemple  a  jamais  memorable  de  la  fureur  insensee  que  les  noms  seuls  peu- 
vent  encore  mspirer  aux  hommes,  lorsqu'il  ne  subsiste  plus  aucune  des  causes 
qui  avoient  excite  leur  discorde.  Sismondi,  Rep.  Ital.  tome  iv.  p.  94. 


PISTOIA.  365 

was  so  inflamed  with  resentment,  that,  disregarding  all  laws  divine 
and  human,  he  began  to  meditate  his  revenge.  At  this  moment 
the  extravagance  of  his  son  was  reported  to  William,  and 
affected  him  with  such  grief  and  disgust,  that  he  thought  of 
averting  any  unfortunate  consequences  by  an  act  of  submis 
sion  ;  and  he  sent  his  guilty  son  to  the  father  and  brothers  of 
the  man  he  had  injured,  to  ask  their  pardon  in  his  own  name 
and  in  that  of  his  afflicted  father.  But  all  in  vain ;  for  scarcely 
had  Gualfredi  cast  his  eyes  on  Dore,  when  he  seized  him,  and, 
without  regard  to  the  goodness  of  his  father,  cut  off  one  of  his 
hands  upon  a  horse  manger,  and  gashed  him  in  the  face,  in  the 
same  manner  as  had  been  done  to  Vanni  his  son.  By  this  atro 
cious  deed,  done  in  cool  blood  and  a  sober  hour,  the  father  and 
brothers  of  Dore  were  so  exasperated,  that  in  order  to  obtain 
some  signal  revenge,  they  united  the  force  of  their  friends  and 
relations,  filled  the  city  with  brawls,  discord,  and  murder,  and 
divided  not  only  the  family  of  Cancellieri,  but  the  whole  city, 
into  two  parties. 

"  The  Cancellieri  were  at  that  time  very  numerous,  very  rich, 
and  in  near  degrees  of  blood  related  and  allied ;  some  of  them 
were  derived  from  the  lady  Nera,  and  others  from  the  lady  Bianca, 
both  of  them  wives  of  M.  Cancelliero,  the  first  author  of  the 
surname  of  this  family  ;  but  now,  no  longer  regarding  their  con 
sanguinity,  they  became  so  perverse  as  to  attend  to  nothing  but 
the  destruction  of  each  other ;  and  reviving  the  memory  of 
the  ladies,  from  whom  the  ancestors  of  Carlino  and  Dore  had 
their  original,  the  followers  of  Carlino  took  the  name  of  Bianchi, 
and  the  followers  of  Dore,  that  of  Neri ;  and  the  people  being 
already  infected  with  diabolical  passions,  the  Ghibellines  took 
the  part  of  the  Bianchi,  and  the  Guelphs  that  of  the  Neri ;  and 
from  this  time  the  two  factions  of  the  city  began  to  be  called 
Bianchi  and  Neri,  and  frequent  bloody  battles  were  fought  in  the 
city  between  them. 

"  *  The  whole  people  in  the  city  and  country  became  divided 
into  Bianchi  and  Neri,  and  the  mutual  slaughters  of  men,  and 
burnings  of  houses,  came  very  near  to  ruin  the  country.  There 
was  not  a  person  who  was  not  obliged  to  assume  one  of  these 

*  Ferretus     Vicentinus,   lib.   ii.    apud  Muratori,  torn,  ix,  Rerum  Italicarum 
Scriptores.    Muratori  Annal.  torn.  viii.  pp.  2,  3.     Cosi  le  inaledette  Sette  si  anda- 
vano  dilatando  per  tutta  la  Toscana. 
31* 


366  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

names,  and  side  with  one  of  the  parties.  Recourse  at  last  was 
had  to  Florence,  to  assist  the  magistrates  in  controlling  these 
parties  ;  and  the  heads  of  the  parties  were  banished,  all  except 
Bertacca,  far  advanced  in  age,  and  one  of  the  knights  of  St. 
Mary,  an  order  which  had  been  instituted  by  Urban  IV.  to 
pacify  the  factions.  It  was  confined  to  the  nobility,  invested 
with  white  robes  with  a  red  cross,  and  two  red  stars  in  a  white 
field ;  but  with  all  its  pomp  and  sanctity,  had  very  little  influ 
ence  to  correct  the  errors  of  an  imperfect  government. 

"  The  Cancellieri  took  refuge  in  Florence,  those  of  the  Neri  in 
the  house  of  the  Donati,  and  those  of  the  Bianchi  in  that  of  the 
Cerchi ;  and  thus  infected  Florence  at  last  to  such  a  degree,  that 
those  party  distinctions  became  as  common  and  as  mischievous 
in  that  city  as  in  Pistoia.  At  this  time  the  Tuscans,  holding 
themselves  free  from  all  subjection  to  the  empire,1  and  regulat 
ing  all  things  according  to  the  caprice  of  parties  unbalanced  in 
their  governments,  the  pestiferous  venom  of  faction  spread 
wider  every  day  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  Each  side  aiming 
at  nothing  less  than  the  other's  total  destruction,2  had  for  its  ob 
ject  the  ambition  of  domineering  without  control.  With  this 
maxim,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  seditious,  these  factions 
joined  in  the  city  of  Florence  to  trample  on  the  laws ;  and  the 
Bianchi  party  succeeded  in  driving  out  by  force  the  Neri,  and 
assumed  the  mastery  of  the  city." 

But  before  the  end  of  the  year,  another  revolution  was  effected 
both  in  Florence  and  Pistoia,  and  the  houses  of  many  of  the 
principal  people  levelled  with  the  ground. 

1  The  Italian  author  is  at  least  consistent  in  his  views  of  the  nature  of  popular 
rights.     He  says, — 

"  Essendo  in  questo  tempo  i  Toscani  usurpatori  degl'  Imperial!  diritti." 

2  There  was  a  refinement  in  the  degree  of  their  malignity  which  deserves 
notice  in  a  history  of  ill-balanced  governments. 

"  Un  principe  odieux  paroit  avoir  ete  constamment  admis  &  Pistoia ;  c'est  que, 
pour  que  la  vengeance  mt  complete,  il  falloit  qu'elle  no  tombat  pas  sur  1'offen- 
seur;  car  si  elle  n'atteignoit  que  celui-ci,  elle  n'etoit  qu'un  chatiment,  qui,  propor- 
tionne  a  1'offense,  et  attendu,  ne  pouvoit  causer  une  douleur  assez  profonde  a 
ceux  dont  on  vouloit  se  venger.  La  premiere  offense  etoit  tombee  sur  un  inno 
cent  ;  pour  que  la  reciprocite  fut  complete,  il  falloit  que  la  seconde  atteignit  un 
homme  egalement  innocent." 

"  S'il  y  avoit  dans  1'une  ou  1'autre  famille  un  homme  que  ses  vertus  fissent 
respecter  et  cherir  de  tous,  ou  meme  que  son  caractere  paisible  cut  eloigne  des 
dissensions  civiles,  et  eut  rendu  comme  inviolable  au  milieu  des  fureurs  de  la 
guerre,  c 'etoit  lui  que  le  parti  contraire  designoit  pour  sa  victime ;  et  il  ne  croyoit 
savourer  tout  le  plaisir  de  sa  vengeance,  que  lorsqu'il  avoit  brav6  pour  commettre 
le  crime  la  sauvegarde  des  loix,  et  tout  respect  divin  ou  huniain."  Sismondi,  Rep. 
Ital.  torn.  iv.  pp.  98-100. 


PISTOIA.  367 

"  The  Florentines,  among  whom  the  Neri  governed,  in  1302, 
suspecting  that  the  Bianchi,  now  banished  from  their  city,  would, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Bianchi  who  ruled  in  Pistoia,  rise 
again  with  new  force,  entered  into  a  combination  with  Lucca 
for  the  total  destruction  of  Pistoia ;  and  a  war  succeeded,  which 
lasted  many  years,  and  extended  to  all  the  cities  of  Tuscany, 
introducing  the  distinctions  of  Neri  and  Bianchi,  and  several 
revolutions  in  all  of  them." 

But  the  war  against  Pistoia  was  maintained  by  Florence  and 
Lucca  in  concert,  till  Pistoia  was  taken,  its  country  divided,  and 
its  people  persecuted  and  oppressed,  until,  finally,  they  refused  to 
receive  a  podesta  from  Lucca  and  Florence.  This  occasioned 
another  army  to  be  sent  against  them. 

"  The  1  Pistoians  then  called  in  the  mediation  of  Siena ;  by 
whose  decision  it  was  ordained,  that  the  podesta  and  captain  of 
the  people  for  Pistoia  should  not  be  chosen  by  the  Lucchese  and 
Florentines,  but  by  the  Pistoians  themselves,  provided  that  the 
election  should  always  fall  upon  some  citizen  of  Florence  or 
Lucca.  This  award  was  supported  by  the  Tedici,  Ricciardi, 
Rossi,  Lazzari,  and  Sinibaldi,  and  others,  their  followers,  against 
the  will  of  the  Taviani,  Ughi,  and  Cancellieri,  and  their  adher 
ents,  both  among  the  grandees  and  people.  This  difference  of 
opinion  occasioned  quarrels  and  dissensions.  The  three  families 
could  not  bear  that  the  five  families  should  *lord  it  over  the  city; 
each  of  these  parties,  therefore,  striving  to  drive  out  the  other, 
without  regarding  the  expense  or  inconvenience,  assembled  their 
friends  and  forces,  marched  through  the  country,  laid  waste, 
combated,  and  assassinated,  in  defiance  of  all  government.  But 
in  the  end,  the  Taviani  having  fallen  into  an  ambuscade  in  the 
midst  of  their  enemies,  near  a  river,  some  were  killed,  others 
made  prisoners,  and  the  rest  dispersed  as  fugitives  ;  and  their 
fortress,  della  Pieve  di  Montecuccoli,  now  called  Valdibura,  and 
the  church  of  St.  Simon,  where  they  had  been  used  to  retreat, 
were  sacked  and  burnt. 

"  In  1316,  the  Pistoians  conceived  a  jealousy  of  the  prosperous 
fortune  of  Uguccione,  not  only  on  account  of  a  signal  victory  he 
had  obtained  against  the  Guelphs,  but  because  he  had  been 
made  lord  of  Pisa  and  Lucca,  and  had  it  in  contemplation  to 

1  Fioravanti,  c.  xviii.  p.  260.  *  Signoreggiassero  la  citta. 


368  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

reduce  Pistoia  to  his  power.  But  dissimulating  their  fears,  and 
to  make  him  friendly  and  benevolent  to  their  city,  the  Pistoians 
chose  him  for  their  podesta.  Coming  to  Pistoia,  he  restored  the 
Cancellieri,  the  Taviani,  the  Ughi,  and  Sinibaldi. 

"  In  1317,  the  Pistoians,  by  reason  of  the  turbulence  in  Tus 
cany,  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  Robert,  King  of 
Naples.  Castruccio  Antelminelli,  captain-general  of  the  wars 
of  the  Lucchese,  having  conducted  to  a  happy  issue  many  enter 
prises  for  that  community,  thought  of  reducing  to  its  dominion 
the  city  of  Pistoia,  by  the  means  of  its  Bianchi  exiles ;  but  after 
many  skirmishes  and  mutual  ravages  of  each  other's  territory, 
a  battle  fought  between  him  and  Giulione,  who  commanded  the 
Pistoian  forces  against  him,  in  which  a  decisive  victory  was  ob 
tained  by  the  latter,  produced  a  treaty  of  peace  between  them, 
one  article  of  which  was,  that  the  exiles  should  be  restored ; 
the  Neri  consenting  to  this  rather  than  risk  a  renewal  of  the  war. 

"  In  1321,  Uberto  Cancellieri  executed  the  office  of  podesta  in 
the  city  of  Padua,  to  the  greatest  satisfaction  of  that  people. 
And  the  same  year,  Matteo  Panciatichi  gave  clear  proofs  of 
fidelity  and  courage  in  the  office  of  commissary  of  Romagna, 
under  Clement  V.  and  the  people  of  Florence." 

From  1321  to  1330,  the  history  of  this  republic  is  filled  with 
wars,  seditions,  and  intrigues,  all  set  on  foot  by  the  different 
contending  parties,  in  order  to  elevate  some  individual,  a  favor 
ite,  or  a  tool  of  their  own,  for  the  sovereign  of  the  state.  The 
simple  heads  of  the  story  must  suffice. 

"  Castruccio  commences  a  destructive  war  upon  the  frontiers, 
to  obtain  the  sovereignty  of  Pistoia  for  himself.  The  people  of 
Pitteccio  betray  their  castle  into  his  hands  to  favor  his  designs, 
being  probably  inclined  to  that  party  ;  the  leaders,  however,  were 
beheaded  for  treason  by  the  Pistoians.  Amidst  these  calamities, 
Ormanno  Tedici  conceives  the  design  of  making  himself  the  sove 
reign  of  Pistoia.  The  want  of  rain  for  eight  months,  and  the 
devastations  of  war,  had  occasioned  a  famine  in  Pisa,  Lucca,  and 
Pistoia.  Upon  this  occasion,  Tedici,  and  Vanni  Lazzari,  both 
rich  and  powerful,  as  well  as  proud  and  ambitious  men,  and  con 
sequently  jealous  of  each  other  as  rivals,  appear  upon  the  stage ; 
their  intrigues  are  full  of  all  that  duplicity  and  hypocrisy,  which 
is  universal  on  such  occasions.*  Tedici  persuades  the  Pistoians 
*  Fioravanti,  lib.  xix. 


PISTOIA.  369 

to  a  truce  with  Castruccio,  and  seizes  the  piazza  and  palace 
of  the  anziani  with  his  partisans ;  is  made  lord  of  Pistoia, 
reforms  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  and  concludes  the  truce  with 
Castruccio,  much  against  the  will  of  the  other  party.  Having 
gone  through  all  the  ceremonies  of  a  revolution,  that  is  to  say, 
reversed  every  thing,  recalled  exiles,  &c.,  and  governed  the  city 
fourteen  months,  his  nephew,  Philip  di  Fortebraccio  Tedici,  a 
youth  full  of  ambition,  conspired  to  take  away  the  sovereignty 
from  his  uncle,  and  assume  it  to  himself.  To  this  end,  he 
began  by  corresponding  with  the  Guelphs  in  exile,  and  by  infus 
ing  into  them  a  belief  that  his  uncle  entertained  a  secret  corres 
pondence  with  Castruccio,  to  deliver  Pistoia  into  his  hands.  The 
nephew,  by  other  artificial  discourses  and  simulated  manners, 
exerted  himself  with  the  Guelphs  to  depose  his  uncle,  and 
restore  all  the  banished  and  scattered  members  of  the  Guelph 
party.  His  fictions  were  credited,  the  resolution  was  taken  with 
alacrity,  they  united  themselves  with  the  impostor,  and,  the 
better  to  obtain  their  desires,  communicated  their  intentions 
to  Neruccio  Conte  de  Sarteano,  a  Guelph  gentleman  of  pru 
dence  and  sagacity,  and  requested  his  counsel  and  assistance ; 
who,  deceived  by  the  relation  of  facts,  so  well  invented  and 
colored  by  Philip,  acknowledged,  that  if  remedy  was  not  im 
mediately  provided,  Pistoia  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  Cas 
truccio  ;  and  offered  them  his  cavalry,  and  promised  to  exert  ah1 
his  force  to  obtain  the  ends  they  desired.  The  uncle  discovering 
the  conspiracy,  complained  to  his  nephew,  who  roundly  asserted 
it  to  be  a  fiction  of  malice ;  and  went  immediately  to  the  heads 
of  the  plot,  told  them  that  the  abbe  his  uncle  was  informed  of 
all,  held  a  short  consultation  with  them,  in  which  it  was  resolved 
to  rise  at  once,  and  carry  into  execution  what  they  had  intended. 
The  conspirators  assembling  in  the  morning,  and  taking  arms  in 
season,  rushed  with  Philip  to  the  piazza,  scattered  the  guards,  by 
putting  to  death  all  who  resisted,  took  the  place,  ran  through  the 
city,  assaulted  the  palace  of  the  anziani,  occupied  the  gates,  and 
garnished  the  walls  with  their  people,  and  Philip  remained  lord 
and  sovereign  of  Pistoia.  This  done,  Philip  called  together  the 
council  of  the  people,  obtained  the  title  of  captain,  and  taking 
the  sovereignty  of  the  city  on  himself,  reformed  it  with  new 
anziani  and  magistrates,  and,  governing  severely,  made  himself 
feared  by  all  men. 


370  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  The  Abbe  Teclici,  having  lost  the  lordship  of  Pistoia,  and 
eager  to  regain  the  possession  of  it,  machinated  with  his  other 
nephews  and  adherents  to  throw  out  of  the  window  of  the  pub 
lic  palace  his  nephew  Philip ;  and  going  with  his  followers  to 
the  palace,  he  was  introduced  alone  to  a  conference  with  the 
artful  Philip,  by  his  express  order,  who  immediately  ordered  the 
gates  to  be  shut  against  the  other  conspirators,  and  with  a  very 
few  words  again  imposed  on  his  uncle,  and  made  him  prisoner. 
Philip,  thus  liberated  from  the  snares  of  his  uncle,  suddenly 
renewed  the  truce  with  Castruccio.  He  conducted  his  negotia 
tions,  both  with  Florence  and  Castruccio,  with  so  much  du 
plicity,  that  he  deceived  both ;  there  are  few  examples  of  deeper 
simulation,  more  exquisite  address,  or  of  selfish  knavery  of  a 
blacker  dye,  than  he  practised  with  his  uncle,  with  the  Floren 
tines,  and  Castruccio.  After  obtaining  of  the  Florentines  the 
creation  of  his  son  a  knight  of  the  golden  spur,  three  thousand 
golden  florins  for  himself,  and  noble  matches  and  rich  dowries 
for  his  two  daughters,  of  the  Florentines,  he  married  himself  to 
Dialta,  the  daughter  of  Castruccio,  and  delivered  Pistoia  into 
his  hands.  Castruccio  immediately  informs  the  Emperor  Louis 
of  Bavaria  of  his  new  acquisition ;  and  Louis  sends  to  this 
great  man,  so  faithful  and  ardent  in  his  service,  a  commission  to 
govern  Pistoia  as  his  imperial  vicar.  Florence  makes  war  to 
recover  the  city  ;  but  is  beaten  by  Castruccio,  who  receives  the 
emperor  afterwards  in  Pistoia,  and  is  made  by  him  duke  both  of 
Lucca  and  Pistoia,  and  soon  after  dies." 

If  he  had  lived,  the  example  would  probably  have  here  been 
complete ;  the  continual  altercations  of  the  principal  families 
having  completely  overturned  the  constitution,  and  introduced 
an  absolute  monarchy.  But  his  death  opened  a  door  for  still 
further  contentions.  "  M.  Vinciguerra  di  Astancollo  Panciatichi, 
prefect  of  the  royal  militia  of  France,  and  a  general  in  the  wars 
of  Normandy,  came  into  the  service  of  the  Florentines  at  this 
time,  with  the  character  of  general,  and  rendered  himself  memo 
rable  to  posterity,  and  most  grateful  to  his  family,  by  building 
in  four  years,  his  superb  palace  in  Pistoia,  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Matthew.  The  sons  of  the  deceased  Castruccio  thought,1  by 
the  favor  of  the  Vergiolesi,  Chiarenti,  Tedici,  and  other  powerful 

1  Fioravanti,  chap.  xx.  p.  286. 


PISTOIA.  371 

families  in  Pistoia,  to  get  themselves  acknowledged  as  sove 
reigns  of  that  city ;  and  to  this  end  procured  an  armed  force  to 
take  possession  of  the  piazza  and  palace  of  the  anziani;  but  the 
imperial  vicar,  with  his  four  hundred  German  guards,  and  by  the 
favor  of  the  Muli,  Gualfreducci,  and  Panciatichi,  families  suffi 
ciently  powerful,  gave  battle  to  the  sons  of  Castruccio,  and 
drove  them  out  of  Pistoia,  into  the  mountains  of  Lucca. 

"  The  Florentines,  taking  advantage  of  the  divisions  and  con 
fusions  in  Pistoia,  excited  their  people  suddenly  to  war,  and 
went  and  laid  siege  to  Carmignano ;  and  after  many  fierce  bat 
tles  for  fifteen  days  it  surrendered,  which  made  the  Florentines, 
with  the  Guelph  exiles,  very  insolent,  ravaging  the  country,  pre 
venting  the  farmers  from  sowing  their  grounds,  and  threatening 
even  the  walls  of  Pistoia. 

"  In  this  state  of  things,  there  arose  in  Pistoia  two  potent 
factions ;  one  originated  in  the  house  of  Vergiolesi,  and  the  other 
in  that  of  Panciatichi.  The  Vergiolesi  adhering  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  imperial  vicar,  through  fear  of  the  four  hundred 
Germans  who  were  in  Pistoia,  induced  a  good  part  of  the 
people  to  refuse  their  consent  to  a  peace  with  the  Florentines 
and  Guelphs.  The  Panciatichi,  with  their  followers,  not  judging 
the  sentiment  of  the  Vergiolesi  good  and  useful  for  the  city, 
esteemed  it  more  advantageous  to  make  peace,  than  to  main 
tain  the  country  in  subjection  to  the  avidity  of  the  Bavarian 
and  his  ministers.  But  the  other  party  determined  to  interrupt 
the  treaty,  by  exciting  the  city  to  an  uproar,  and  by  parading 
the  streets  with  their  Germans,  by  whom  many  of  the  people 
were  assassinated.  Finding  themselves  thus  ill-treated,  the  peo 
ple,  collecting  together,  fell  upon  these  Germans.  A  skirmish 
followed,  so  serious  that  many  were  killed,  many  surrendered 
prisoners,  and  those  who  escaped  were  obliged  to  fly  with  their 
vicar  to  Lucca.  In  the  mean  time  Ricciardo  di  Lazzaro  Can- 
cellieri,  a  Guelph  exile  from  Pistoia,  secretly  assisted  by  the 
Florentines,  and  rendered  powerful  both  by  the  money  and  the 
bravery  of  his  Guelphs,  understanding  the  disunion  in  Pistoia, 
marched  into  the  mountains  of  Pistoia  with  great  terror,  to 
acquire  possession  of  some  confiscated  castles  of  his  party.  This 
occasioned  great  disgust  and  alarm  to  all  the  city,  and  roused 
Giovanni  Panciatichi  to  go  out  with  his  faction  to  oppose  him; 
who  attacking  his  enemy  with  great  spirit,  prevented  him  from 


372  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

making  himself  the  lord  of  that  extensive  country.  The  Pan- 
ciatichi,  then,  the  Muli,  and  the  Gualfreducci,  pushing  the 
advantage  they  had  gained,  and  suspecting  some  treason 
from  the  Vergiolesi  applied  themselves  at  once  to  cut  off  the 
means  to  such  designs.  With  all  diligence  they  procured  from 
the  anziani  an  assembly  of  the  general  council,  by  whom  all  the 
sons  and  relations  of  Castruccio,  Philip  Tedici,  Charles  his  son, 
with  all  their  families,  were  banished  and  imprisoned  out  of 
Pistoia,  and  all  their  goods  and  estates  confiscated ;  and  to 
make  sure  of  the  imprisonment  or  the  death  of  the  Tedici,  a 
rewardnvas  offered  of  five  hundred  florins  of  gold.  This  done, 
they  made  peace  with  Florence,  and  four  knights  of  the  golden 
spur  were  made  by  the  Florentines,  two  of  the  family  of  Pan- 
ciatichi,  one  of  the  family  of  Muli,  and  one  of  the  Gualfreducci, 
in  gratitude  for  their  important  services;  and  both  cities  sub 
mitted  to  the  church,  and  banished  the  emperor." 

The  common  people  about  this  time  began  to  be  weary  of  the 
cabals  of  the  principal  families,  but  were  too  ignorant  to  con 
trive  any  method  to  restrain  them,  but  that  which  always  ren 
ders  them  still  more  desperate  and  destructive  to  the  community, 
an  attempt  to  bring  all  upon  a  level. 

"  The  fashion  at  funerals  had  become  so  expensive,  that  every 
one  exceeded  his  proper  abilities  in  making  a  show;  and  the 
Pistoians,  not  without  giving  occasion  for  ridicule,  attempted  to 
regulate  the  expense  upon  such  occasions,  by  decreeing  a  uni 
form  moderation  for  all.  At  the  same  time,  considering  the 
blessings  and  advantages  of  equal  and  clear  laws,  and  that  the 
people  by  the  means  of  them  are  rendered  tractable,  and  less 
haughty  and  audacious,  they  prepared  certain  statutes  and  pro 
visions  for  the  good  government  of  their  city.  And  as  it  ap 
peared  to  them,  that  some  of  the  principal  families  arrogated  an 
undue  share  in  the  management  of  public  affairs,  and  were  dis 
posed  by  force  to  oppress  the  commonalty,  they  determined  that 
all  offences  against  the  latter  should  be  severely  punished,  and 
that  the  next  noble  relation  of  any  grandee  should  be  obliged  to 
pay  any  pecuniary  mulct  which  should  be  inflicted,  in  case  his 
estate  was  not  sufficient  to  discharge  it ;  and  in  case  the  delin 
quent  was  sentenced  to  a  capital  punishment,  and  escaped  by 
any  means  from  justice,  his  next  relation  among  the  grandees 
should  be  held  to  pay  a  thousand  pounds." 


PISTOIA.  373 

Although  nothing  can  be  conceived  more  inconsistent  with 
liberty,  equity,  or  humanity,  than  these  laws,  yet  the  terror  of 
them  is  said  to  have  procured  a  momentary  tranquillity ;  espe 
cially  as  certain  companies  of  armed  militia  of  the  popular 
party  were  instituted  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  city,  to  force 
them,  arbitrary,  oppressive,  and  cruel  as  they  were,  into  execu 
tion.  But  this  militia  was  not  long  able  to  control  the  spirit  of 
disorder,  and  it  became  necessary  to  provide  a  stronger  bridle  for 
unquiet  and  seditious  spirits,  and  a  new  and  most  rigorous  law 
to  beat  down  their  arrogance  and  insolence. 

"  The  plebeians  at  this  time  feeling  themselves  the  true  and 
real  grandees,  and  at  the  highest  summit  of  power,  ordained  by  a 
law,  that  all  those,  of  whatever  condition  they  might  be,  who 
should  give  themselves  up  to  an  evil  life,  and  give  offence  to  the 
commonalty,  and  disturb  the  quiet  of  the  city  or  country,  should 
be,  as  a  punishment  for  their  actions,  denominated  "grandees" 
(grandi,  e  magnati,)  and  excluded  from  the  magistracies,  and  all 
management  of  public  affairs,  and  be  subjected  to  more  severe 
punishments.  It  is  true  that  the  nobles  had  still  some  share  in 
the  government,  because  the  plebeians,  that  they  might  not 
make  too  many  enemies  at  once,  did  not  seek  to  exclude  all  from 
public  offices,  but  selected  from  the  number  divers  houses  of  the 
most  pacific,  and  the  greatest  lovers  of  justice,  and  placed  them 
among  the  popular  men,  to  take  away  their  power  from  the 
others,  and  secure  it  to  themselves.  No  nobleman,  however, 
adopted  by  the  commonalty  was  permitted  to  make  any  osten 
tation  of  his  nobility ;  so  that  if  any  one  of  the  popular  men 
was  made  a  knight  by  any  prince  or  republic,  he  was  suddenly 
deprived  of  his  office ;  whence  many  of  the  nobles,  who  wished 
to  enjoy  all  the  benefits  of  the  commonalty,  were  obliged,  by  a 
simulated  respect  to  the  plebeians,  to  lay  aside  their  arms  and 
surnames,  to  distinguish  themselves  from  their  connections  re 
maining  among  the  grandees.  Other  nobles  there  were,  who 
chose  rather  to  be  excluded  from  all  public  offices,  and  live 
exposed  to  the  rigorous  laws  of  the  grandees,  than  to  lay  aside 
their  arms  or  surnames,  jealous  of  obscuring  the  ancient  heredi 
tary  splendor  of  their  ancestors.  In  this,  however,  they  were 
deceived,  for  the  principal  popular  men  took  care  to  preserve 
their  distinction,  by  a  law,  "  That  if  by  a  statute  nobles  were 
made  plebeian,  they  do  not  lose  by  that  their  nobility ;"  that  the 

VOL.  v.  32 


374  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

advantage  of  being  of  the  people  accrues  to  them  besides ;  and 
by  another  law,  declaring  many  to  be  magnati,  it  is  subjoined, 
"the  rest  we  understand  to  be  of  the  people,  although  born 
of  noble  race  and  progeny."  From  this  it  was  contended,  that 
those  were  deceived  who  measured  the  antiquity  and  nobility  of 
their  own  or  other  families  by  the  rule  of  the  enjoyment  of  the 
principal  magistracies. 

"  In  1332,  several  of  the  most  powerful  families,  arrogating 
too  much  authority  in  public  affairs,"  or,  in  other  words,  being 
found  by  the  plebeians  to  have  too  much  influence  for  them  to 
be  able  to  control,  "  such  dissensions  and  disturbances  arose,  that 
it  was  thought  necessary  to  declare  them  in  the  number  of  the 
grandees  ;  and  accordingly,  it  appears  by  the  records,  that  the 
Cancellieri,  Gualfreducci,  Muli,  Ughi,  Panciatichi,  Taviani,  Ric- 
ciardi,  Tedici,  Sinibaldi,  Tebertelli,  Vergiolesi,  Rossi,  Lazzari, 
Forteguerri,  Visconti,  Foresi,  and  others,  that  is,  all  the  principal 
families  in  the  nation,  were  declared  to  be  magnati,  stigmatized 
with  that  odious  appellation,  and  excluded  from  all  share  in 
public  offices. 

"  In  this  year  severe  sumptuary  laws  against  effeminate  luxury 
were  made  by  the  council,  the  solemnities  and  expenses  of  wed 
dings  were  regulated,  and  the  clothing  of  men.  Extravagant 
fashions  in  these  things  had  tempted  most  people  to  exceed  their 
revenues,  had  multiplied  debtors,  and  rendered  dubious  and  diffi 
cult  the  credit  of  merchants.  Certain  wise  citizens  were  author 
ized  to  prepare  regulations  of  this  kind ;  and  they  succeeded  in 
making  such  wise  laws,  that  frauds  and  abuses  became  less 
common. 

"Yet  the  caprice  and  instability  of  this  government  appears 
very  remarkable  at  this  time ;  for  although  the  Cancellieri  were 
the  year  before  recorded  for  grandees,  yet  in  1333,  Ricciardo  Can 
cellieri  was  declared  a  knight  by  the  council  of  the  people  of 
Pistoia,  and  was  feasted  at  the  public  expense.  When  any  one 
was  made  a  knight  by  any  sovereign,  or  any  city,  he  became 
suddenly  noble,  although  he  had  not  been  so  by  birth  ;  for  birth, 
at  that  time,  was  neither  necessary  to  nobility  nor  to  knighthood. 
The  ceremony  of  arming  the  knight  was  made  with  great  solem 
nity,  receiving  the  military  girdle  from  the  other  knights."  * 

*  Fioravanti,  p.  301. 


PISTOIA.  375 

In  1336,  the  Pistoians  lamented  the  death  of  their  most  be 
loved  citizen  Cino,  their  greatest  lawyer  and  judge,  the  master 
of  Bartolo  and  Petrarch. 

In  1342,  Pistoia  was  obliged  to  capitulate  with  the  Duke  of 
Athens,  who  held  the  government  of  it  three  years,  and  ruled  it 
as  tyrannically  as  he  did  Florence. 

In  1344,  the  government  was  recovered  from  the  Duke  of 
Athens ;  and, 

"  To  remedy  the  infinite  tumults  which  were  daily  excited  by 
the  power  of  the  families  of  the  magnates,  who,  by  their  riches 
and  adherents  made  their  authority  and  influence  prevail,  it  was 
ordained,  that  in  time  of  any  tumult  or  uproar  it  should  not  be 
lawful  for  any  man  of  the  people  to  enter  the  house  of  any 
grandee,  and  if  by  chance  any  one  should  be  in  such  a  house 
at  such  a  time,  he  should  immediately  quit  it,  that  he  might  not 
be  under  the  temptation  to  assist  the  grandee,  upon  pain  of  the 
loss  of  all  public  offices,  and  confiscation  of  all  his  goods.  And 
no  one  of  these  powerful  families,  whom  they  branded  with  the 
name  of  grandees,  could  go  into  the  service  of  any  prince,  city, 
or  republic,  if  he  had  not  first  obtained  the  permission  of  the 
general  council,  on  pain  of  being  declared  a  rebel ;  and  that  the 
families  of  the  grandees  might  be  known  to  all,  the  following 
description  and  declaration  of  them  was  made  and  published  by 
thority,  namely, —  *  Omnes  de  domo  Cancellariorum,  omnes  de 
domo  Gualfreducciorum,  Tediciorum,  Lazarorum,  Viscontorum, 
Panciaticorum,  Ugorum,  Mulorum,  Tavianorum,  Sinibuldorum, 
Vergiolensium,  Rubeorum,  Ricciardorum ; '  which  grandees,  in 
time  of  any  tumult  or  strife,  must  not  go  out  of  their  houses, 
unless  called  by  the  captain,  or  the  gonfalonier,  and  anziani. 

"  The  Pistoians,  informed  of  the  robberies,  assassinations,  and 
havoc,  which  were  daily  committed  by  certain  rebels  in  the  above 
mountain,  and  of  the  treasons  plotting  by  those  of  Serravalle 
against  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  commons  of  Pistoia,  did  not 
neglect  to  use  the  necessary  expedition  to  chastise  the  insolence 
of  the  former,  and  to  divert  the  malignity  of  the  latter;  against 
the  former  they  sent  out  a  body  of  soldiers,  who  put  the  rebels 
to  flight,  and  pulled  down  their  houses ;  against  the  latter,  they 
promulgated  severe  laws,  with  a  promise  of  a  thousand  pounds 
reward  to  any  one  who  would  accuse  an  accomplice  of  treason." 

To  show  the  inefficacy  of  all  such  democratical  despotism,  as 


376  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  declarations  of  grandeeism  against  the  principal  families 
in  a  community,  Frederick  Cancellieri,  surnamed  for  his  great 
valor  Barbarossa,  had  influence  enough  to  obtain  so  great  a  dis 
tinction,  and  so  popular  and  honorable  a  post  as  the  command 
of  the  troops  raised  and  paid  by  Pistoia,  to  go  upon  the  expedi 
tion  for  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  Land;  Angiolo  Cancellieri 
was  made  a  bishop,  and  rose  fast  in  the  church ;  and  Niccolo 
Cancellieri,  as  captain  of  the  Florentines,  acquired  immortal 
glory  by  besieging  in  his  own  palace,  and  deposing  from  the 
government  of  Florence,  Walter,  Duke  of  Athens ;  and  Marcello 
Cancellieri  also  made  himself  illustrious  as  a  divine,  and  obtained 
the  place  of  auditor  of  the  chief  court  of  judicature  at  Rome." 

So  much  of  the  time  of  the  husbandman,  the  artisan,  and  the 
people  in  general,  was  taken  up  in  war  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
the  fields  were  so  often  laid  waste,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
obtain  a  constant  and  certain  supply  of  provisions  for  the  peo 
ple.  The  consequence  of  this  was  famine  and  the  plague,  two 
other  evils  in  those  days  springing,  with  innumerable  others, 
from  their  imperfect  government. 

"  The  plague  and  famine,  which,  in  the  course  of  the  past 
year,  had  nearly  deprived  Pistoia  of  inhabitants,  at  length  ceas 
ing,  the  few  that  remained  were  so  grieved  and  astonished  at 
such  a  calamity,  that  one  would  have  thought  their  minds  too 
much  softened  and  humbled  to  engage  again  for  some  time  in 
their  nefarious  tumults ;  but  the  few  surviving  citizens  found  as 
much  disunion  and  animosity  among  them  as  ever.  Fresh  disor 
ders  arose,  and  there  was  no  possibility  of  restraining  the  indigna 
tion  and  fury  of  the  two  families  of  Panel atichi  and  Cancellieri, 
who,  upon  some  dissatisfaction  arising  among  them,  fell  into  such 
quarrels,  that,  as  each  party  had  many  adherents,  many  murders 
and  much  slaughter  followed ;  and  much  greater  would  have 
ensued,  if  the  people  had  not  gathered  to  separate  the  combat 
ants,  and  compelled  them  to  retire  to  their  houses.1  To  prevent 
the  prevalence  and  increase  of  these  disorders,  the  citizens  called 
together  the  general  council,  by  whom  it  was  ordered  that  dili 
gent  inquisition  should  be  made  after  the  heads  of  the  tumult, 
and  a  rigorous  prosecution  was  commenced  against  Richard 
Cancellieri,  and  Gio.  Panciatichi,  the  heads  of  the  two  families ; 

1  Fioravanti,  chap.  xxii.  p.  314. 


PISTOIA.  377 

who,  although  they  humbled  themselves,  and  asked  pardon  for 
the  error  they  had  committed,  and  made  an  entire  reconciliation 
with  each  other,  were  condemned  in  a  fine  of  five  hundred  lire 
each,  to  be  paid  to  the  commons  of  Pistoia,  and  were  obliged 
to  ratify  by  an  oath,  in  full  council,  the  peace  they  had  made 
between  them.  But  notwithstanding  all  this,  neither  of  the 
families  really  laid  aside  their  bad  temper  towards  the  other ;  for 
their  principals  having,  rather  from  the  fear  of  justice  than  a 
desire  of  tranquillity,  made  the  peace  between  them,  they  daily 
applied  themselves  to  provide  arms  and  men,  and  finally  pro 
claimed  themselves  openly  to  be  mortal  enemies  to  each  other. 
This  gave  rise  to  the  factions  of  the  Panciatichi  and  Cancellieri, 
from  whence  arose  such  actions  and  events  as  brought  final  ruin 
,on  themselves,  their  relations,  their  friends,  and  the  city  itself. 

"  I  reflect  with  astonishment  and  stupefaction,"  says  Fiora- 
vanti,  "  that  the  Pistoians,  abandoning,  without  cause  or  reason, 
their  native  sagacity,  and  becoming  factionaries,  should  have 
fomented  the  passions  of  these  two  particular  families ;  have  set 
the  boasting  of  preeminence  over  one  another  before  the  public 
peace ;  and  have  employed  all  their  forces  against  the  tranquil 
lity  of  liberty  in  that  city,  celebrated  through  the  whole  world 
for  men  illustrious  in  arms,  in  letters,  in  sanctity,  and  wisdom ; 
prudent  in  her  laws  and  in  her  government  to  such  a  degree,  that 
foreign  republics  had  made  a  model  of  her  laws.  Nevertheless, 
thus  it  was ;  giving  themselves  up  a  prey  to  their  griefs  and 
afflictions,  they  deprived  themselves  of  all  repose,  and  making 
the  passions  of  a  few  common  to  them  all,  lost  their  liberty  and 
their  government;  blessings,  which  till  this  time  had  been  pre 
served,  not  without  the  envy  of  their  rival  cities ! " 

This  writer  needed  not,  however,  have  been  so  much  surprised, 
if  he  had  considered  the  nature  of  man,  and  compared  it  with 
the  nature  of  a  government  in  which  all  authority  is  collected 
into  one  centre.  An  attentive  reader  will  be  surprised  at  the 
boast  of  that  tranquillity  and  liberty  hitherto  enjoyed;  and  will 
be  at  a  loss  to  find  one  moment  in  the  whole  history  where  there 
could  have  been  any  degree  of  either. 

Arbitrary  laws  of  exclusion  and  disqualification,  and  awkward 
attempts  to  expose  to  popular  odium  the  principal  families, 
made  without  the  least  modesty  or  equity  by  a  popular  majority, 
will  never  have  weight  enough  with  the  people  to  answer  the 

32* 


378  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

design  of  them.  Those  families  will  still  retain  an  influence 
with  the  people,  and  have  a  party  at  their  command  very  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  majority;  and  being  justly  irritated  and 
provoked  at  the  injustice  done  them,  will  never  want  a  disposi 
tion  to  attempt  dangerous  enterprises. 

"  The  family  of  the  Cancellieri,  though  stigmatized  and  dis 
qualified  as  grandees,  were  still  held  in  great  esteem,  among  all 
ranks,  for  their  riches  and  numerous  adherents.  Richard,  the 
head  of  the  family,  stimulated  by  his  own  resentment  and  ambi 
tion,  and  no  doubt  excited  by  his  partisans,  had  the  presumption 
to  entertain  thoughts  of  making  himself  sovereign  lord  of  his 
country.  Courting  the  people  to  this  end  by  his  liberality,  affa 
bility,  and  courtesy,  he  waited  only  for  a  favorable  opportunity 
to  acquire  it.  Having  filled  his  house  with  a  large  number  of. 
persons,  his  countrymen  and  foreigners,  he  suddenly  marched  out 
with  these  and  his  relations  to  assault  the  piazza  and  the  palace 
of  the  anziani;  but  being  met  by  the  captain  of  the  company  of 
the  anziani)  with  his  men,  and  with  these  many  of  the  grandees, 
and  a  multitude  of  the  common  people,  adherents  of  the  Panci- 
atichi,  the  Cancellieri  were  repulsed  with  great  spirit,  and  per 
ceiving  their  lives  in  great  danger,  they  fled  and  shut  themselves 
up  in  the  house  of  the  Bondacchi,  their  friends.  Their  faction, 
seeing  themselves  left  without  a  head,  in  disorder  and  defeated, 
fled  in  despair  out  of  the  city  by  the  gate  of  St.  Mark.  The 
Panciatichi,  having  thus  conquered  Richard,  proceeded  with 
great  violence  to  burn  the  houses  of  the  Cancellieri.  Richard 
was  outrageous  at  the  destruction  of  his  houses  and  the  flight 
of  his  followers ;  but  being  informed  that  they  were  waiting  for 
him  in  the  country,  he  scaled  the  walls  in  the  night,  went  out  to 
meet  them,  took  the  castle  of  Marliana,  and  there  fortified  himself. 

"  With  the  Cancellieri  on  their  flank,  and  Gio.  Visconti,  Arch 
bishop  of  Milan,  and  Lord  of  Bologna  and  all  Lombardy,  in 
their  neighborhood,  both  with  parties  desirous  of  making  them 
lords  of  Pistoia,  the  Pistoians  were  obliged  to  put  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  Florence,  upon  certain  conditions.  Ri 
chard  Cancellieri,  hearing  of  this,  went  to  Florence,  and  with 
plausible  reasons  made  it  there  believed  that  the  Panciatichi 
held  a  secret  correspondence  with  Visconti,  to  deliver  Pistoia 
into  his  hands.  The  Florentines  thought  they  might  as  well 
govern  Pistoia  themselves,  and  have  it  wholly  at  their  devotion, 


PISTOIA.  379 

and  immediately  gave  Richard  the  command  of  horse  and  foot, 
to  go  and  subdue  it.  The  attack  was  made  in  the  night,  and 
would  probably  have  succeeded,  if  the  ensigns  of  Florence  had 
not  been  imprudently  displayed,  which  so  enraged  the  Pistoians, 
that  resolving  to  die  rather  than  submit,  they  repulsed  their 
invaders." 

The  Florentines  sent  a  formidable  reinforcement ;  but  the  Pi 
stoians  defended  themselves  with  intrepidity  till  they  assem 
bled  their  general  council;  and  although  Gio.  Panciatichi  w~as 
infamous  as  a  grandee,  he  was  still  the  soul  of  the  republic,  and 
no  other  man  had  enough  of  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens 
to  be  sent  ambassador,  and  entrusted  with  their  salvation.  He 
executed  his  commission,  convinced  the  Florentines  that  they 
had  been  deceived  by  Cancellieri,  and  made  an  honorable  peace ; 
and  in  1352,  the  Pistoians  effectually  assisted  Florence  in  defend 
ing  itself  against  the  army  of  Visconti  of  Milan. 

"  In  1353,  the  attention  of  all  parties  was  turned  to  peace,  to 
put  an  end,  once  for  all,  to  the  troubles  of  Italy,  and  it  was  final 
ly  concluded  between  all  the  Guelph  cities  of  Tuscany,  namely, 
Florence,  Siena,  Pistoia,  Perugia,  Arezzo,  city  of  Castello,  and 
others,  of  one  side,  and  Gio.  Visconti  on  the  other,  with  certain 
pacts  and  conditions ;  among  which  Visconti  freely  released 
into  the  hands  of  Pistoia  the  castles  and  fortresses  of  Piteccio, 
Torri,  Treppio,  Fossato,  Monticelli,  and  Sambuca ;  and  on  all 
sides  all  the  exiles  wrere  released.  By  virtue  of  which  article, 
the  families  of  the  Ammanati,  Tedici,  Vergiolesi,  Gualfreducci, 
and  others,  were  restored  to  Pistoia,  and  all  their  property  was 
restored  to  them. 

"  Richard  Cancellieri,  nevertheless,  in  1354,  being  still  obnox 
ious  to  the  Panciatichi,  did  not  cease  to  strengthen  his  party,  by 
soliciting  the  friendship  of  those  who  might  be  useful  to  his 
views.  To  this  end  he  formed  an  intimate  friendship  with  the 
captain  of  the  Florentine  guards,  of  whom  he  expected  to  make 
an  essential  use  in  all  occurrences.  But  the  Panciatichi,  jealous 
of  this  intimacy,  complained  of  it  bitterly  to  the  Florentines, 
who,  to  please  them,  dismissed  their  officer,  but  at  the  same 
time  exhorted  the  complainants  to  live  quietly,  and  lay  down 
their  arms ;  for  that  at  all  events,  and  at  any  expense,  as  authors 
of  the  peace  between  the  two  families,  they  were  determined  to 
maintain  it.  At  this  time,  some  disquiet  arose  between  the  dif- 


380  .  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

ferent  members  of  the  Cancellieri  family,  one  of  whom,  Pievano, 
joined  the  Panciatichi,  and  brought  an  accusation  before  the 
Florentines  against  Richard,  that  he  meditated  some  great  trea 
chery  against  them.  A  rigorous  investigation  was  instituted, 
Richard  being  found  innocent,  the  accuser  and  the  heads  of  the 
insurrection  were  severely  punished,  while  he  was  honorably 
acquitted." 

The  emperor  Charles  IV.  made  a  grant  to  the  Pistoians  to 
govern  themselves  by  their  own  laws  and  laudable  customs,  in  a 
free  popular  state,  under  the  guidance  of  the  anziani  and  gonfa 
lonier  of  justice,  whom  he  made  perpetual  vicars  of  the  holy 
Roman  empire.  That  this  sketch  may  not  be  protracted  to  an 
immeasurable  length,  we  may  pass  over  the  rebellions  and  wars 
between  1355  and  1376,  at  which  time, 

"  The  dissatisfactions  among  the  citizens  of  Pistoia  were  so 
increased,  by  the  renewal  of  officers  in  1373,  that  tumults  arose, 
and  to  such  a  height  were  they  carried,  that  the  Florentines,  who 
desired  no  more  than  to  become  lords  of  Pistoia,  or  to  see  it 
destroyed,  because  it  was  rich,  noble,  and  powerful,  thought  it  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  strike  in  with  their  meditated  designs. 
Under  the  specious  color  of  peace  and  quiet,  they  annulled  the 
late  renewal ;  and  by  new  laws,  under  pretence  of  taking  away 
the  scandalous  names  of  the  two  factions  of  the  Panciatichi  and 
Cancellieri,  divided  the  officers  into  two  orders,  calling  one  the 
company  of  St.  John,  and  the  other  the  company  of  St.  Paul;  so 
that  a  moiety  of  the  citizens,  exclusively  of  the  grandees,  who 
had  not  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  the  imborsation,  was  now  imborsed 
in  the  purse  of  the  company  of  St.  John,  and  the  other  moiety 
in  the  purse  of  the  company  of  St.  Paul;  and  to  obtain  the 
supreme  magistrate  four  were  drawn,  one  for  each  quarter,  from 
the  purse  of  St.  John,  and  four,  in  the  proportion  of  one  for 
each  quarter,  from  the  purse  of  St.  Paul ;  and  the  gonfalonier 
was  to  be  drawn  alternately,  once  from  one  purse,  and  another 
time  from  the  other.  And  because  the  company  of  St.  John 
was  protected  by  the  Cancellieri,  it  immediately  followed  that  it 
declared  itself  of  that  faction  ;  and  that  of  St.  Paul,  protected 
by  the  Panciatichi,  declared  itself  openly  of  the  faction  of  Pan 
ciatichi  ;  and  in  this  manner,  instead  of  extinguishing  the  fire,  it 
increased  to  such  a  degree,  that  it  spread  not  only  in  the  city,  but 
through  all  its  territory ;  and  Pistoia  was  reduced  to  a  condition 


riSTOIA.  381 

so  deplorable,  as  to  be  obliged  to  abandon  all  domestic  society 
and  familiarity,  every  one  being  suspicious  not  only  of  his  neigh 
bors  and  relations,  but  of  his  bosom  friends." 

In  1383,  all  ranks  of  people  exceeded  their  abilities  in  expenses 
at  funerals,  and  in  other  effeminate  luxury;  sumptuary  laws 
were  made  against  extravagant  expenses ;  but  the  historian  con 
fesses,  that  although  he  thought  there  was  reason  for  them,  yet, 
as  he  could  not  read  them  himself  without  laughing,  he  feared 
he  should  do  no  good  by  relating  them. 

"  The  Pistoians  having  bestowed  all  their  endeavors  and  stu 
dies  to  obtain  a  peace  with  Bologna,  with  whom  they  had  long 
been  at  war  on  account  of  boundaries,  now  hoped  to  live  hap 
pily  ;  but  they  were  again  tormented  with  insurrections,  attended 
with  rapine,  burnings,  and  murders  innumerable. 

"  The  news  arrived  in  Pistoia,  in  1390,  that  John  Galeazzo 
Visconti  had  sent  against  the  Florentines  an  army  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  Jacopo  del  Verme." 

This  war  lasted  several  years,  and  was  brought  upon  the  city 
by  its  divisions. 

"  The  Pistoians  had  now  been  eight  and  forty  years  in  some 
sense  dependent  on  Florence ;  for  in  1350,  after  the  great  com 
motions,  they  had  entered  into  a  stipulation,  by  Richard  Can- 
cellieri  their  fellow-citizen,  with  the  people  of  Florence,  to  keep 
forever  a  purse  of  six  Florentines  taken  from  among  the  popu 
lar  party,  out  of  which  should  be  drawn  their  captain  of  the 
people.  In  this  year,  1398,  for  the  sake  of  a  more  intimate 
connection  and  familiarity  with  the  commons  of  Florence,  it 
was  farther  stipulated,  that  for  the  future  the  podesta  of  Pi 
stoia  should  be  a  Florentine." 

Continual  animosities  had  occasioned  in  the  minds  of  the 
citizens  such  weariness,  grief,  and  compunction,  that  it  is  impos 
sible  to  read,  without  commiseration,  their  awkward  attempts  to 
reconcile  themselves  with  one  another,  and  to  extirpate  the  civil 
discords,  with  which  Pistoia  was  furiously  agitated.  The  whole 
people,  of  every  age,  sex,  and  condition,  were  persuaded  to  go  in 
procession  through  the  city,  clothed  in  white  sacks,  to  ask  mu 
tually  each  other's  pardon,  and  to  cry  " Misericordia  e  pace!" 
(mercy  and  peace)  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  momentary 
benevolence,  and  many  acts  of  Christian  charity,  must  have  been 
produced  by  a  pilgrimage  so  solemn  and  affecting;  but  the  de- 


382  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

fects  in  the  constitution  of  their  government  were  not  amended 
by  it,  and  the  troubles  of  the  people  soon  revived. 

The  jealousies  of  the  Cancellieri  and  Panciatichi1  revived, 
and  proceeded  to  such  lengths,  that  in  1401,  Richard  Cancellieri, 
to  revenge  himself,  began  a  secret  treaty  with  Visconti  Duke  of 
Milan,  to  deliver  the  city  of  Pistoia  into  his  hands,  that  he 
might  govern  it  with  his  absolute  power,  and  exterminate  the 
faction  of  the  Panciatichi.  The  plot  was  discovered,  and  Richard 
and  all  his  children  declared  rebels,  and  their  houses  reduced  to 
ashes.  Richard  in  the  country  joined  with  other  exiles,  and 
burned  the  houses  of  Panciatichi.  The  Pistoians  were  now  so 
alarmed  with  the  danger,  from  the  Visconti  and  Cancellieri  in 
concert,  that  they  were  obliged  to  put  themselves  into  the  hands 
of  the  Florentines.  The  Cancellieri  carried  on  the  war,  however? 
with  so  much  spirit  and  success,  that,  although  the  Duke  of 
Milan  died  in  1402,  Richard  was  able,  in  1403,  to  obtain  a  peace, 
by  which  the  state  of  Pistoia  was  obliged  to  restore  his  family 
to  all  their  estates,  and  make  good  all  their  losses.  The  Pan 
ciatichi  agreed  to  this,  that  the  consent  of  all  the  leaders  might 
be  obtained  to  lay  this  burden  on  the  people,  by  whom  the 
damages  done  to  the  Panciatichi  too  were  to  be  repaired. 

"  In  1420,  it  was  ordained,2  that  in  the  renewal  of  magistrates 
and  public  offices,  the  families  who  had  been  stigmatized  with 
the  opprobrious  name  of  grandees  should  be  restored  to  the 
rights  of  citizens,  and  share  in  the  management  of  public  affairs. 
But  these,  beginning  with  their  usual  impertinence  to  labor  that 
every  thing  should  be  done  as  they  would  have  it,  and  all  offices 
disposed  by  their  influence,  quarrels  and  dissensions  among  the 
citizens  arose,  by  which  the  whole  city  fell  into  the  greatest 
agitation ;  whence  it  was  necessary,  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
public  peace,  to  exclude  them  afresh  from  public  affairs.  These 
families  were  the  Panciatichi,  Rossi,  Sinibuldi,  Ughi,  Taviani, 
Vergiolesi,  Lazari,  Cancellieri,  Ricciardi,  Visconti,  Gualfreducci, 
and  Tedici. 

"  The  ladies  indulged  in  great  expenses  in  the  furniture  of  their 
houses,  and  in  the  superfluous  ornaments  of  their  persons  and 
families.  The  general  council  thought  it  necessary  to  interpose, 
and  prohibit  ajl  clothes  to  be  lined  with  foreign  furs,  or  to  be 

1  Flora vanti,  cap.  xxiv.  p.  342.  2  Chap.  xxv.  p.  351. 


PISTOIA.  383 

embroidered  with  pearls,  gold,  or  silver,  or  other  expensive  and 
superfluous  decorations;  and  because  all  former  laws  for  the 
same  purpose  had  been  found  ineffectual,  they  were  now  renewed 
with  most  rigorous  penalties." 

In  1455,  a  civil  war  broke  out  in  the  territory  of  Pistoia,  called 
Alliana,  between  the  Cancellieri  and  Panciatichi,  which  spread 
into  the  city,  and  went  to  such  furious  lengths  that  the  ladies 
themselves  took  arms,  and  fought  with  as  much  bravery  as  the 
gentlemen,  to  revenge  the  slaughter  of  their  relations ;  and  be 
fore  this  commotion  was  ended,  the  slaves,  or  what  they  call  the 
the  vassals  or  villeins,  took  arms.  And  no  method  to  restore 
peace  could  be  devised,  till  Florence  was  requested  to  send  four 
commissaries,  who  compelled  the  Cancellieri  and  Panciatichi  to 
take  an  oath  to  be  peaceable.  Yet  insurrections,  tumults,  and 
civil  wars,  continued  in  1476,  and  indeed,  with  very  little  inter 
mission,  till  1485. 

"In  that  year1  Baldinotto  Baldinotti,  foreseeing  that  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici  might  possibly  arrive  at  the  sovereignty  of  Pistoia, 
considering  the  great  reputation,  influence,  and  authority,  which 
he  enjoyed  in  that  city,  laid  a  plot  to  take  him  off'.  As  a  lover 
of  the  liberty  of  his  country,  he  thought  it  just  and  honorable  to 
go  with  his  own  son,  and  lie  in  wait  in  the  way  between  Poggio 
and  Cajano,  by  which  he  knew  Lorenzo  was  to  pass,  in  his 
journey  to  Pistoia,  to  the  feast  of  St.  James.  But  the  confidants 
of  Lorenzo  having  discovered  the  design,  the  conspirators  were 
without  delay  apprehended,  carried  prisoners  to  Florence,  and 
there  punished  with  death." 

Another  civil  war  between  the  Cancellieri  and  Panciatichi, 
attended  with  its  customary  cruelty  and  devastation,  occurred, 
and  was  not  composed  till  the  Florentines  summoned  four  of 
each  party,  and  compelled  them  to  give  security,  that  for  the 
future  no  quarrels,  murders,  burnings,  or  robberies,  should  be 
committed  in  Pistoia.  But  this  answered  the  end  only  in  part, 
for  the  parties  went  out  of  the  limits  of  the  state,  and  there 
committed  all  sorts  of  cruelties  on  one  another ;  and  in  1490, 
the  civil  war  was  renewed  in  the  city. 

"  On  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  III.,  Maximilian,  his 
son,  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  the  empire;  but  delaying  his 

1  Fioravanti,  p.  367. 


384  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

entry  into  Italy,  he  gave  occasion  to  Louis  Sforza,  tutor  of  the 
Duke  of  Milan,  to  invite  Charles  VIII.,  King  of  France,  to  come 
to  the  conquest  of  Nappies.  Upon  this  occasion  the  Pistoians 
threw  off  their  subjection  to  Florence,  or  rather  broke  off  the 
connection.  But  this  acquisition  of  liberty  and  independence 
had  a  short  duration ;  for  the  Pistoians  knew  they  could  enjoy 
no  tranquillity  under  their  own  government,  and  with  their  own 
parties ;  after  two  years  negotiation,  they  agreed  to  a  new  con 
vention  in  1496. 

"  The  families  of  the  grandees,  or  impertinents,  as  they  were 
called,  revived  their  pretensions  to  be  admitted  to  the  honors 
and  public  offices  of  the  commonwealth ;  but  as  this  was  con 
trary  to  the  popular  will,  and  the  passions  and  interest  of  their 
leaders,  tumults  ensued.1  The  pretensions  of  these  families 
were  countenanced  by  the  Florentines ;  but  the  popular  men  in 
the  plenitude  of  their  power,  opposed  it  with  so  much  resolu 
tion,  that  nothing  new  was  effected. 

"  Plague  and  famine  raged  in  Pistoia  to  such  a  degree,  that 
some  were  in  hopes  the  citizens  would  put  an  end  to  discord 
and  sedition,  and  at  least  endeavor  to  enjoy  peace;  but  the 
people,  trampling  under  foot  all  laws,  human  and  divine,  began 
to  renew,  both  in  the  city  and  the  country,  their  oppositions  and 
enmities,  which  proceeded  to  such  feats  of  arms  and  mutual 
slaughter,  that  they  were  again  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the 
Imperial  vicars  in  Florence,  to  interpose  and  put  an  end  to  those 
strange  accidents  which  threatened  the  total  destruction  of  the 
country. 

"  The  dissensions  of  parties  in  the  city  and  its  territory  being 
somewhat  abated,  the  citizens  began  to  flatter  themselves  with 
the  hopes  of  quiet;2  but  neglecting  to  provide  a  remedy  against 
the  emulations  of  private  interest,  in  individuals  and  families, 

1  The  original  meaning  of  Fioravanti  seems  not  to  be  accurately  adhered  to 
in  this  place. 

"  In  tempi  si  calamitosi,  anche  le  Famiglie  Magnate,  o  impertinent!  come  si 
disse,  si  fecero  sentire  con  la  loro  pretensione  di  essere  contro  ogni  volere  de' 
popolari  ammese  agli  onori,  e  ufizi  pubblici,  e  a  tale  effetto  principiando  a  tu- 
multuare,  obbligarono  i  Fiorentini  a  proteggere  la  loro  pretenzione ;  ma  i  Pisto- 
jesi  opponendosi  a  si  impertinenle  domanda  fecero  si,  che  riconosciute  da'  Fioren 
tini  per  buone  le  ragioni  de'  Popolari,  non  resto  per  allora  innovata  cosa  veruna." 
p.  374. 

The  historian's  opinion  of  the  cause  of  the  evil  in  this  instance  is  plain  enough. 
The  next  paragraph  explains  the  other  side  of  the  question. 

2  Chap,  xxvii.  p.  376. 


PISTOIA.  385 

by  separating  the  executive  power  from  the  legislative,  rivalries 
arose,  which  produced  such  ruin,  both  to  the  country  and  the 
contending  families,  as  has  been  deplored  by  all  subsequent 
generations.  The  fact  was,  that  by  the  death  of  Buonaccorsi,  a 
director  of  a  hospital  of  St.  Gregory,  it  was  necessary  to  pro 
ceed  to  the  election  of  a  successor.  On  the  tenth  of  October, 
1499,  four  subjects  or  persons,  had  been  balloted  for,  and  ap 
proved  as  suitable,  by  the  general  council,  among  whom  the  one, 
who  should  be  confirmed  and  approved  by  the  bishop  of  Pistoia 
according  to  the  law,  was  to  obtain  the  office.  The  council 
having  discharged  their  duty  in  the  nomination  of  the  four,  the 
ordinary  proceeded  to  reject  two  of  them,  one  after  another,  and 
left  the  competition  undecided  between  Piero  Terchio  and  Ber 
nardo  Nutini,  each  of  whom  endeavored  to  interest  his  friends 
in  his  favor.  Terchio  was  protected  by  the  Panciatichi,  and 
Nutini  by  the  Cancellieri.  The  bishop  was  at  Florence,  whence 
it  happened  that  Salimbene  Panciatichi  caused  his  friend  Ter 
chio,  to  be  confirmed,  as  director  of  the  hospital,  by  the  Canon 
Jacob  Panciatichi,  under  color  of  his  being  the  apostolical  le 
gate  ;  and  sending  to  Florence  for  the  approbation  of  the  bishop, 
the  good  prelate  promised  to  comply.  The  Cancellieri  hearing 
of  this,  went  also  to  Florence  to  supplicate  the  bishop  not  to 
approve  the  election ;  but  the  bishop,  who  wished  to  keep  his 
word,  would  not  listen  to  them.  Seeing  that  they  could  not 
move  him  from  his  promise,  they  applied  themselves  to  obtain 
solicitations  of  his  friends  and  relations,  with  such  assiduity  and 
importunity,  that  the  irresolute l  prelate  was  at  last  induced  to 
comply  with  their  request.  The  Panciatichi,  understanding  the 
strange  resolution  of  the  prelate,  had  recourse  to  the  priori  of 
the  people  and  the  gonfalonier  of  justice  of  their  country,  and 
obtained  an  order,  that  the  possession  of  the  hospital  should  not 
be  given  to  Nutini,  who  had  the  smaller  number  of  votes,  but 
to  Terchio,  who  by  right  ought  to  have  it ;  and  Terchio,  accom 
panied  by  some  of  the  Panciatichi,  was  placed  in  the  govern 
ment  of  the  hospital. 

The  Cancellieri,  returning  from  Florence  with  the  confirma 
tion  of  the  bishop  in  the  person  of  Nutini,  carried  him  to  the 
hospital  to  give  him  possession,  but  found  the  place  occupied ; 

1  "  Dolce,"  amiable,  frequently  signifying  the  same  with  the  word  used  in  the 
text 

VOL.  V.  33  Y 


386  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

whereupon,  returning  to  Florence,  they  carried  their  complaint 
to  the  rettori ;  and,  after  much  altercation  between  the  parties, 
it  was  determined  that  the  affair  should  be  decided  in  a  court  of 
justice,  and  the  cause  committed  to  two  lawyers.  The  judges 
determined  that  Nutini  had  been  elected  and  canonically  con 
firmed,  and  he  was  accordingly  put  into  the  office,  against  all 
that  could  be  said  or  done  by  the  Panciatichi,  who,  upon  pain 
of  being  declared  rebels,  were  obliged  to  abandon  the  hospital, 
which  they  had  held  well  guarded,  and  give  way  to  the  execu 
tion  of  the  sentence.  The  Cancellieri  were  made  insolent  by 
their  victory,  and,  sometimes  by  words,  sometimes  by  actions, 
assumed  a  haughty  superiority  over  the  contrary  party;  who, 
considering  themselves  derided  and  insulted  not  only  by  the 
Cancellieri  but  by  the  bishop,  went  about  venting  their  passions 
among  the  people ;  whence  it  happened,  that  hostilities  begin 
ning  between  these  two  families,  they  never  ceased  till  they 
ruined  the  city  of  Pistoia. 

"  The  Panciatichi  could  not  erase  from  their  minds  the  many 
and  great  injuries  they  had  received  from  the  Cancellieri,  and 
now  meditated  a  cruel  revenge.  On  the  fifth  of  February,  1500, 
they  unexpectedly  assaulted,  under  the  greater  piazza,  Baccino 
Nutini  and  others,  and  having  mortally  wounded  Giorgio  Tonti, 
they  set  to  running  through  the  whole  city,  and  murdering  all 
the  Cancellieri,  excepting  some  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
palace  of  the  lords  priors.  The  Cancellieri  who  survived  were 
not  at  all  intimidated,  because,  having  many  adherents,  it 
was  easy  for  them  to  rouse  the  plebeians  against  the  Panciati 
chi;  quick  at  their  instigation,  these  showed  themselves  fierce 
persecutors  of  that  faction,  for,  arming  themselves,  all  shouted 
'Vengeance!  vengeance!'  and  in  the  tumult  a  multitude  of 
the  Panciatichi  and  their  adherents  were  killed  upon  the  spot. 
Matters  became  so  exasperated,  that  both  parties  thought  of 
nothing  but  mustering  as  many  followers  as  they  could.  In  May 
the  Panciatichi  assembled  a  great  body  of  men,  and  seized 
the  piazza,  and  more  than  half  the  city  fortified  themselves  in 
the  balconies,  steeples,  and  towers,  and  devoted  their  whole  time 
and  attention  to  preparations  for  war.  The  Cancellieri  on  their 
part,  with  followers  equally  numerous,  fortified  themselves  in  the 
other  side  of  the  city,  and  were  assisted  by  such  numbers  of 
men,  who  came  in  from  the  mountains  and  plains  in  the  coun- 


PISTOIA.  387 

try,  that  they  composed  a  large  army.  In  such  a  scene  of 
turbulence,  suspicions  were  so  frequent  and  dangerous,  that  it 
became  necessary  for  every  man  to  declare  himself;  for  both 
parties  adopted  the  same  maxim  towards  the  moderate  men 
and  neutrals,  '  If  you  don't  show  yourself  our  friend,  we  will 
show  ourselves  your  enemy.'1  There  was  not  a  man,  finally, 
who  did  not  take  a  share  in  all  the  injuries  and  insolence  of  a 
party ;  and  frequent  battles,  sometimes  in  one  street,  and  some 
times  in  another,  both  by  night  and  by  day,  disturbed  the  whole 
city  so,  that  there  was  no  time  for  the  people  to  take  any  repose. 

"  In  this  state  of  things  there  arrived  at  Pistoia  two  commis 
saries,  with  five  hundred  men,  sent  by  the  Imperial  vicars  in 
Florence  to  put  a  check  to  the  impetuosity  of  faction,  who 
entered  by  the  gate  of  Caldatica,  and,  taking  possession  of  the 
most  important  and  advantageous  posts,  gave  orders  to  all  to 
retreat  and  abandon  their  arms.  These  orders  were  scarcely 
promulgated,  when  there  unexpectedly  appeared  a  large  body 
of  armed  men  to  the  assistance  of  the  Cancellieri,  which  had 
been  sent  by  their  adherents  in  Bologna ;  and,  on  the  other  side, 
a  number  of  men  from  St.  Marcello,  and  other  neighboring 
countries,  came  to  the  succor  of  the  Panciatichi.  And  neither 
party  choosing  to  give  way  to  the  other,  they  began,  in  the  face 
of  the  Florentine  guards,  to  strike  each  other  so  cruelly,  that  the 
faster  their  forces  increased,  the  more  were  multiplied  the  insults, 
arsons,  murders,  and  slaughter. 

"  The  commissaries  seeing  all  things  rushing  to  destruction, 
ordered  the  heads  of  both  parties  to  appear  at  Florence,  and 
that  the  soldiers,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  should  leave  the  city 
upon  pain  of  being  declared  rebels,  and  they  extended  the  same 
threat  to  all  who  should  entertain  them  in  their  houses.  The 
Panciatichi  were  disposed  to  obey;  but  the  Cancellieri,  who 
were  favored  by  one  of  the  commissaries,  continued  insolent, 
and  those  who  had  been  summoned  made  a  jest  of  the  orders, 
and  refused  to  move ;  whence  those  ministers,  seeing  themselves 
little  respected,  and  less  obeyed,  returned  to  Florence.  The 
soldiers  had  left  the  city,  and  the  heads  of  the  factions,  seeing 
themselves  deprived  of  their  strength,  set  themselves  to  enlisting 
the  plebeians  on  their  side,  and  a  great  body  of  people  eager 

1  "  Se  tu  non  ti  mostri  nostro  amico,  dunque  tu  sei  nostro  nemico." 


388  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

for  slaughter  stood  ready  to  begin  a  new  affray.  As  the  death 
of  Giorgio  Tonti  had  been  displeasing  to  the  Cancellieri,  they 
could  not  forget  it,  nor  conquer  their  desire  of  a  bitter  revenge ; 
with  this  view  they  occupied,  with  all  their  people,  the  piazza 
della  Sala,  and  leaving  a  number  to  guard  it,  went  with  the  rest 
to  the  little  square  of  the  Trinity,  to  pull  down  the  houses  of 
the  Cellesi,  and  then  that  of  one  of  the  Panciatichi ;  after  which 
they  laid  siege  to  the  palace  of  Gualtieri  Panciatichi,  which  they 
briskly  beat  down  ;  then  running  through  the  city,  they  killed 
Francis  Nutini,  and  plundered  his  house,  with  that  of  Gabriel 
Visconti,  Bernard  Cellesi,  Matthew  Cellesi,  and  setting  fire  to 
all  of  them,  they  ran  to  attack  the  house  of  Astorre  Panciatichi, 
from  whence  those  of  its  faction  fled,  and  this  house  remained 
in  the  power  of  its  enemies,  who  stripped  and  robbed  it.  They 
then  burned  the  houses  of  the  Centi,  those  of  Gio.  di  Francesco, 
and  Thomas  Balducci,  and  that  of  Gori,  archdeacon  of  St. 
Zeno,  and  auditor  of  the  bishop  Pandolfini.  After  so  many 
pillages,  burnings,  and  demolitions,  they  returned  to  the  piazza, 
and  rifled  all  the  shops  and  stores  of  the  Panciatichi,  with  whom 
they  engaged  in  a  bitter  conflict,  and  a  large  number  on  both  sides 
perished.  At  this  instant  a  powerful  reinforcement  of  men  ar 
rived  to  the  Panciatichi,  who  without  loss  of  time  renewed  the 
attack  upon  the  Cancellieri,  and  both  parties  fought  in  the 
parish  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Lily,  and  in  that  of  St.  Michael, 
with  such  desperation,  that  a  great  number  on  both  sides  were 
killed  and  wounded,  and  if  a  great  rain  had  not  parted  the  com 
batants,  it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  race  would  have  been  here 
exterminated.  But  upon  this  occasion  a  truce  was  concluded. 
The  heads  of  these  factions  were  now  summoned  to  Florence; 
thirty  of  them  went,  and  were  immediately  thrown  into  prison. 
A  rigorous  prosecution,"  as  it  is  called,  "  was  commenced  against 
them.  Some  were  acquitted  without  any  conditions  of  peace  or 
truce ;  others  were  punished  by  imprisonment ;  some  by  seques 
tration  of  their  property,  and  some  were  banished." 

"  This  decision  extinguished  no  part  of  the  flames  of  revenge ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  rigor  practised  against  some,  and  the  lenity 
to  others,  gave  rise  to  still  greater  insolence ;  and  in  the  face  of 
the  Florentines  themselves,  and  in  their  own  city,  some  of  the 
acquitted  Cancellieri  committed  excesses  as  outrageous  as  before. 
Introduced  by  some  of  the  malignant  into  Florence,  secretly,  at 


PISTOIA.  389 

the  shutting  of  the  gates,  they  set  themselves  to  search  for 
Andrew  and  Salimbe  Panciatichi,  to  assassinate  them ;  and 
favored  by  the  obscurity  of  a  foggy  air,  after  two  o'clock  at 
night,  they  found  it  easy  to  put  Salimbe  to  death,  though 
Andrew  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape,  by  hiding  himself  in  a 
joiner's  shop.  For  this  atrocious  crime  seven  were  outlawed; 
but  they  having  been  reinstated  in  Pistoia,  in  defiance  of  justice, 
the  factionaries  soon  came  to  another  rupture ;  they  confounded 
all  things  in  such  a  manner,  that  there  no  longer  remained  any 
who  dreaded  the  divine,  much  less  human  justice ;  but  scattering 
their  strife  through  the  plains  and  mountains,  nothing  was  heard 
of  but  quarrels,  treachery,  conflagration,  and  murder.  The  two 
factions  were  at  length  weary  of  such  inconveniences  and  fa 
tigues,  and,  to  prepare  themselves  to  combat  with  greater  vigor, 
they  made  for  a  short  time,  and  with  common  consent,  a  truce ; 
each  party  increased  its  supply  of  arms,  men,  and  provisions; 
and  the  Panciatichi,  desirous  of  victory,  invented  several  new 
instruments  and  machines  of  war,  and  fortifying  themselves 
with  these,  thought  themselves  invincible. 

"  The  Cancellieri,  as  well  as  the  Panciatichi  fortified  them 
selves  with  forts  and  bastions  of  timber,  and  machines  of  war, 
and  stood  well  upon  their  guard  in  their  posts.  The  Panciati 
chi,  no  longer  able  to  restrain  themselves,  set  in  order  all  their 
people,  made  Palamidesse  Panciatichi,  and  Bartolomeo  Cellesi, 
their  leaders,  and  arranged  all  their  posts,  officers,  and  soldiers. 
But  while  they  were  occupied  in  these  dispositions,  they  unex 
pectedly  found  the  opposite  faction  ready  to  meet  them ;  the 
battle  was  fought,  and  the  Cancellieri  obtained  a  bloody  victory, 
because  the  Panciatichi  were  abandoned  by  a  large  body  of 
Lombards,  whom  they  had  hired  for  their  defence.  They  did 
not,  however,  lose  courage,  but  reassembling  their  partisans,  and 
rallying  their  soldiers,  they  appeared  again  in  a  short  time,  with 
greater  numbers  and  ferocity  than  ever;  and  the  engagement 
being  renewed,  for  the  short  time  that  it  lasted,  was  so  terrible 
and  fatiguing,  that  both  parties,  exhausted  and  faint,  were  con 
strained  to  retire  with  their  wounded  men  to  their  posts. 

"  The  Cancellieri  having  taken  some  repose,  and,  considering 
that  they  had  the  countenance  of  the  new  Florentine  commissa 
ries,  by  whose  advice  those  of  their  associates  had  been  restored 
to  Pistoia,  who  had  been  banished  from  Florence  for  the  murder 
33* 


390  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

of  Salimbe  Panciatichi,  assumed  fresh  courage  to  attempt  every 
means  for  the  destruction  of  the  Panciatichi.  On  the  ninth  of 
August  they  scoured  all  the  streets  and  squares  of  the  city, 
and  wherever  they  found  a  Panciatichi  they  murdered  him. 
They  put  to  death  also  Bernardino  Gai,  and  mortally  wounded 
the  Conte  di  Rigolo  Bisconti;  but  many  of  the  Panciatichi, 
thinking  it  their  duty  to  avenge  themselves,  fell  with  such 
impetuosity  upon  the  rear  of  the  Cancellieri,  as  obliged  them  to 
retire.  In  this  state  of  things  the  Florentine  commissaries  cited 
to  appear  before  them  ten  persons  of  each  party ;  who,  though 
they  made  their  appearance,  were  detained  in  the  palace  of 
justice,  and  exhorted  to  peace,  or  at  least  to  a  temporary 
truce,  would  not  accept  of  any  of  these  proposals ;  therefore  the 
commissaries,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  them,  dismissed 
them.  Animated  rather  than  terrified  by  this  weakness  of  au 
thority  and  the  judicial  power,  they  recalled  all  their  followers 
confined  in  various  places,  and  providing  themselves  again  with 
arms  and  assistants,  renewed  the  war.  Such  was  the  ardor, 
violence,  and  force  of  the  Cancellieri  and  their  party,  that  they 
excited  great  terror,  not  only  in  the  country  parts,  but  in  all  the 
city.  Not  content  to  have  taken  possession  of  all  the  councils, 
and  assembled  them  to  govern  as  they  pleased,  and  rendered 
their  people  disobedient  to  all  law,  but  they  also  sent  them, 
with  the  utmost  license,  through  the  country,  to  ravage,  plunder, 
and  burn  the  villages  and  habitations.  The  men  of  prudence 
and  reflection,  seeing  such  destruction  and  so  much  ruin,  and 
foreseeing  more,  exerted  themselves  to  obtain  an  election  of 
eight  citizens,  to  whom  were  given  the  whole  authority  of  the 
general  council,"  or,  in  other  words,  they  were  made  dictators, 
"  that  they  might  find  a  remedy  for  so  great  confusions,  and  do 
whatever  should  be  necessary  or  convenient  for  restoring  the 
public  tranquillity. 

"  In  the  meanwhile  the  clergy  were  aroused,  and  with  uncom 
mon  zeal  exhorted  the  people  in  private,  and  fulminated  from 
the  pulpit  against  all  this  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of 
men  ;  but  all  this  apostolical  benevolence,  added  to  the  unlimited 
power  of  the  eight  dictators,  were  insufficient ;  men's  ears  were 
deaf,  and  their  eyes  blind,  to  every  thing  but  the  malignity  of  their 
own  passions,  and  every  one  continued  to  do  whatever  seemed 
right  in  his  own  eyes.  They  recalled  into  Pistoia  all  the  ban- 


PISTOIA.  391 

ished  men,  with  numerous  troops  of  their  adherents ;  these  filling 
the  city  with  bad  men,  and  bringing  fresh  force  and  vigor  to  the 
respective  parties,  they  prepared  to  commit  new  excesses.  The 
Panciatichi,  finding  themselves  at  liberty,  and  loosened  from  all 
restraint,  went,  on  the  thirteenth  of  August,  unexpectedly,  to 
batter  down  the  houses  of  Giuliano  Fioravanti,  that  of  Jacob 
Peri,  that  of  Antonio  Popoleschi,  and  many  others,  upon  which 
occasion  many  were  wounded;  Francis  Panciatichi,  and  John 
Astesi,  with  many  others  of  inferior  condition,  were  killed.  On 
the  fifteenth  of  August  they  went  to  batter  down  the  house  of 
Biagio  Odaldi,  but  these  making  a  resolute  resistance,  many 
were  wounded,  and  the  rest  obliged  to  retreat;  but  returning 
the  next  day,  to  attack  it,  they  labored  to  such  purpose,  that 
partly  with  force,  and  partly  with  fire,  they  took  possession  of 
the  house.  They  went  next  to  the  palace  of  Neri  and  Thomas 
Fioravanti,  and  finding  no  resistance  they  took  it  and  filled  it 
with  their  men.  They  assaulted  too  the  houses  of  the  Celate, 
Salincorni,  and  Curradi,  and  not  being  able  to  take  them,  set 
fire  to  them,  and  burnt  five  warehouses  of  Antonio  Ambrogi; 
they  entered  into  the  house  of  Lorenzo  Gatteschi,  but  there 
they  were  obliged  to  fight  a  long  time,  and  the  engagement 
became  general,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  the  num 
ber  of  the  killed  and  wounded  of  the  two  factions,  but  there 
was  not  a  street  in  the  city  which  was  not  incumbered  with 
dead  bodies,  and  polluted  with  human  blood. 

"  Intelligence  of  the  strength  of  the  Panciatichi  had  been 
communicated  by  the  Cancellieri  to  their  friends,  who,  on  the 
morning  of  the  seventeenth  of  August,  with  a  hundred  cavalry, 
and  two  hundred  infantry,  appeared  suddenly  at  the  houses  of 
the  Cellesi,  by  whom  so  brave  a  defence  was  made,  that  they 
were  repulsed ;  but  after  taking  a  short  repose,  they  returned  to 
the  assault,  took  the  house,  plundered  it,  and  set  it  on  fire. 
They  went  next  to  the  houses  of  Antonio  Ambrogi,  to  the  two 
houses  of  the  Cioci,  to  that  of  Vincenzo  Mati,  and  burned  them, 
with  many  others,  and  retook  those  which  had  been  hitherto 
occupied  by  the  Panciatichi,  who  finding  themselves  obliged  to 
abandon  the  houses  of  Andrea  Fioravanti,  and  Antonio  Popo 
leschi,  consigned  them,  in  desperation,  to  the  flames.  But  while 
the  party  of  the  Cancellieri  were  busy  in  this  mischief,  they 
were  attacked,  in  two  places  at  once,  by  the  Panciatichi ;  and 


392  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

scarcely  was  the  action  begun,  when,  perceiving  their  disadvan 
tage,  they  retreated  behind  the  church  of  St.  Anthony,  and  set 
fire  to  the  house  of  Nicholas  Godemini ;  from  thence  they  went 
to  the  Old  Gate,  and  attacked  the  houses  of  the  Bracciolini  in 
the  piazza,  where,  meeting  with  a  bold  resistance,  they  went 
with  great  anxiety  to  find  the  commissaries,  and  demanded  of 
them  the  possession  of  the  hospital  del  Ceppo,  which  was  then 
governed  by  one  of  the  Panciatichi,  otherwise  they  would  set 
fire  to  it.  The  Panciatichi  had  already  two  hundred  country 
men  of  the  Plain,  under  the  command  of  Michelino  Jozzeli,  and 
that  of  Lisca,  who,  posted  for  the  guard  of  the  hospital,  were 
determined  to  perish  rather  than  abandon  it.  The  commissaries 
seeing  so  many  people  assisting  the  Panciatichi,  would  not 
openly  espouse  the  request  and  attempt  of  the  Cancellieri,  but 
pacifying  them  with  soothing  words,  they  gave  orders  to  M. 
Criaco,  the  captain,  who,  in  behalf  of  the  Florentine  Imperial 
vicars,  with  five  hundred  soldiers  guarded  the  piazza,  in  their 
name  to  take  possession  of  the  hospital,  under  the  pretence  of 
preserving  it  from  so  much  fury.  The  captain,  with  one  hun 
dred  of  his  soldiers,  marched  to  the  hospital,  and  employed  all 
his  art  to  obtain  possession  of  it,  but  was  answered  by  the  Pan 
ciatichi,  that  they  would  not  go  out  of  the  place  alive.  Upon 
this  the  commissaries  in  person  went  to  the  hospital,  and  ac 
knowledging  that  it  must  require  great  feats  of  arms  to  take  it, 
talked  so  fair  to  the  Panciatichi,  that  these  delivered  it  up  to 
them.  It  was,  however,  unexpectedly  pillaged  by  the  Cancel 
lieri,  and  then  placed  by  the  orders  of  the  commissaries,  in  the 
power  of  the  supreme  magistrate  of  the  city,  by  whom  posses 
sion  being  taken,  regulations  were  made  for  the  good  government 
of  it,  and  the  administration  given  to  four  prudent  citizens. 

"  A  little  afterwards  the  commissaries  and  the  bishop  under 
took  to  persuade  the  party  of  the  Panciatichi  not  only  not  to 
seek  the  control  of  the  hospital,  but  also  to  absent  themselves 
some  time  from  the  city,  and  in  that  manner  to  remove  the 
cause  of  so  many  disorders,  and  endless  evils  which  threatened 
to  succeed.  These  orders,  or  this  recommendation,  were  given 
to  Bastiano  and  Vincenzo  Bracciolini,  of  that  faction,  who 
immediately  held  a  conference  with  Andrew  and  Antonio  Pan 
ciatichi,  their  leaders.  These  thought  fit  to  obey,  first  demand- 
Ing  security  for  their  houses  and  other  property,  which  was 


PISTOIA.  393 

promised  them  by  the  commissaries.  They  made  haste  to 
communicate  these  particulars  to  all  their  factionaries,  who, 
adhering  to  the  opinions  of  their  principals,  collected  together 
all  their  property  of  value,  and  carried  it  towards  the  church  of 
St.  Paul,  and  there  filled  up  the  whole  street  which  leads  to  the 
gate  Caldatica,  and  stood  well  upon  their  guard.  The  Cancel- 
lieri  were  in  the  contiguous  street,  with  four  hundred  soldiers 
from  Bologna ;  but  fearing  to  risk  a  battle,  the  Panciatichi 
marched  out  of  Pistoia  without  receiving  injury,  followed  by  the 
Cellesi,  Rossi,  Franchini,  Forteguerri,  Fabroni,  Bisconti,  Brac- 
ciolini,  Brunozzi,  and  many  others  of  equal  rank  and  condition. 
The  gates  were  instantly  shut,  and  the  walls  lined  with  men  by 
the  Cancellieri,  who  from  that  eminence,  scoffed  at  the  retreating 
faction,  with  impunity  and  without  danger. 

"  The  Cancellieri  remained  in  Pistoia,  and  it  is  not  possible  to 
relate  the  abominable  iniquities  and  cruelties  committed  by  them 
in  the  height  of  their  triumph,  insolence,  and  power ;  ranging  the 
whole  city  without  control,  they  attended  to  no  other  business 
or  amusement  but  to  ruin,  burn,  plunder,  and  ravish,  whatever 
of  the  Panciatichi  they  could  find,  and  he  who  could  commit 
the  most  atrocious  deeds  was  the  most  esteemed,  admired,  and 
applauded.  In  this  manner  was  the  public  faith,  and  the  solemn 
promise  made  to  the  Panciatichi,  fulfilled  and  performed !  To 
the  principal  palace  of  the  Panciatichi  they  set  fire ;  the  houses 
of  the  Brunozzi,  Cellesi,  and  many  others  contiguous  to  them, 
were  dismantled;  the  beautiful  habitations  of  John,  Oliver,  and 
Virgil  Panciatichi,  with  many  other  places  and  houses  filled 
with  grain,  corn,  wine,  oil,  and  timber,  were  burned  ;  and  all  the 
summer-houses,  shops,  and  stores,  and  every  other  building 
which  belonged  to  the  Panciatichi ;  in  one  of  which  was  found 
in  bed  the  Count  di  Rigolo  Bisconti,  ill  of  the  wounds  he  had 
received  in  some  of  the  late  engagements ;  the  Count  was  with 
out  ceremony,  thrown  out  of  the  window  into  the  street,"  not 
by  a  common  rabble,  but  by  Ceccone  Beccano  and  Gio.  Tavi- 
ani,  men  of  distinction  and  consequence.  "  They  afterwards 
made  search  in  all  the  steeples  and  towers,  as  well  as  through 
all  the  churches,  for  refugees  of  the  other  faction,  and,  wherever 
they  found  any,  they  drove  them  out,  robbed  them,  and  sent 
them  to  their  houses ;  and  so  enormous  was  the  evil  committed 
by  the  Cancellieri  factionaries,  that  by  the  end  of  the  twentieth 


394  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

of  August  they  had  burned  more  than  two  hundred  houses  and 
stores,  and  all  of  the  principal  sort,  contrary  to  the  promises  and 
solemn  faith  passed  to  the  Panciatichi  by  the  commissaries ;  and 
thus  a  beautiful  and  charming  city  was  become  a  receptacle  of 
assassins,  of  robbers,  of  murderers,  and  of  men  of  every  evil 
deed." 

While  the  faction  of  the  Cancellieri  thus  tyrannically  domi 
neered  in  Pistoia,  that  of  the  Panciatichi  would  have  done  the 
same  if  they  had  been  in  the  city,  equally  without  control.  "  In 
their  state  of  banishment,  they  still  meditated  the  oppression 
and  destruction  of  their  rivals,  and  to  this  purpose  collected  men, 
and  fortified  themselves  on  the  plains  in  the  country.  Not  being 
able  to  obtain  the  countenance  and  assistance  of  the  Floren 
tines,  but  rather  being  threatened  by  them  with  their  displeasure 
and  chastisement,  they  set  themselves,  with  all  their  forces,  to 
maltreat  the  country  with  their  robberies,  arsons,  homicides,  and 
imprisonments,  in  such  a  manner,  that  making  frequent  excur 
sions  into  the  mountains,  they  soon  reduced  all  the  territory  of 
the  Pistoians  to  a  miserable  and  deplorable  state.  At  the  same 
time  the  Cancellieri,  no  longer  knowing  what  to  steal,  or  whom 
to  rob,  went  on  inventing  new  affronts  for  the  Panciatichi,  or 
those  whom  they  suspected  to  favor  that  party,  who  remained 
in  Pistoia.  As  the  city  was  full  of  malicious  people,  wTho  could 
not  contain  themselves,  they  went  frequently  out  of  the  gates, 
and  stole  cattle  and  other  property  from  the  Panciatichi  in  the 
country,  till  all  the  Panciatichi,  who  were  near  the  bounds  of  the 
city,  were  obliged  to  retreat  into  the  plain,  and  unite  with  their 
associates ;  here  they  began  to  think  of  checking  the  power  of 
their  enemies;  and  all  being  eager  to  return  to  their  houses, 
they  thought  it  a  duty  by  force  to  put  a  bridle  on  the  arrogance 
of  their  adversaries,  and  reduce  them,  once  for  all,  to  subjection. 
To  this  purpose  they  erected  a  strong  bastion  near  the  bridge 
of  Bonelle,  and  another  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  bridge  alia 
Pergola,  and  fortified  themselves  at  St.  Angiolo,  at  St.  Bastiano, 
at  the  great  house  of  the  Forteguerri,  at  Tenuta,  at  Magia,  at 
St.  Nuovo,  at  Tizzana,  and  made  other  fortifications,  with  prepara 
tions  of  munitions  of  arms,  provisions,  and  men,  from  the 
mountains  and  from  Lucca,  who  came  to  lend  them  assistance ; 
and  by  these  means  they  held  all  the  country  in  subjection,  and 
all  the  contrary  faction  in  terror. 


PISTOIA.  395 

"  The  Cancellieri  seeing  the  preparations  made  by  the  Pan- 
ciatichi,  and  apprehending  some  unexpected  assault,  without 
delay,  made  preparations  necessary  to  remove  these  faction aries 
effectually  from  the  country.  Collecting  together  a  body  of 
four  thousand  men,  of  their  own  and  the  Bolognese,  they  went 
out  to  attack,  at  the  same  time,  the  two  bastions  near  the 
bridges.  The  Panciatichi  were  astonished  and  panic-struck  at 
the  sight  of  so  many  men,  and  giving  themselves  up  most 
shamefully  to  flight,  the  assailants,  in  less  than  one  hour,  had 
complete  possession  of  both  bridges,  and  dismantled  both  the 
bastions.  Proceeding  to  St.  Angiolo,  which  was  guarded  by 
Bartolomeo  Cellesi,  an  intrepid  officer,  and  experienced  in  arms, 
they  fought  a  most  bloody  battle,  in  which  Cellesi  himself  was 
killed;  for  this  brave  commander  falling  from  his  horse,  was 
assassinated,  and  his  head,  severed  from  his  body,  was  fixed  on 
the  bow  of  a  saddle,  and  carried  to  Pistoia,  there  to  be  exposed 
to  mockery  and  insult;  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpets  it  was 
placed  upon  the  architrave  of  the  well  of  the  great  market,  that 
the  people  might  demonstrate  their  joy  and  triumph  over  it, 
and  there  it  was  kept  three  days.  This  inhuman  exultation 
was  the  beginning  of  ill  fortune  to  the  Cancellieri ;  the  indigna 
tion  of  the  Panciatichi  was  so  excited  by  the  scoffs  and  taunts 
offered  to  Cellesi,  and  by  the  shameful  repulse  in  an  assault  of 
an  enemy's  bastion  near  the  river  Brana,  that,  whilst  the  Can 
cellieri  were  shouting  'Victory!'  and  returning  without  order, 
and  with  a  great  booty  to  Pistoia,  the  Panciatichi,  making  a 
commander  of  Franco  di  Meo  Gori,  a  man  of  a  very  numerous 
family  in  Terruccia,  proud  and  fearful,  but  fortunate,  and  accom 
panied  by  four  of  his  brothers,  and  other  relations,  in  all  about  a 
hundred  persons,  followed  in  the  rear  of  those  who  thought  them 
selves  victorious,  to  the  grove  of  elms,  and  there  retaking  the  plun 
der  routed  the  party.  Many  were  slain,  more  made  prisoners,  and 
the  rest,  scattered  in  various  places,  returned  late  and  in  disorder 
to  Pistoia.  The  Panciatichi  having  obtained  so  signal  a  victory, 
proceeded,  under  their  captain,  Franco,  to  Tizzana  and  Magia, 
and  there  summoned  all  the  people  of  the  party  to  arms,  and 
stood  night  and  day  in  good  order  and  well  guarded.  The  Can 
cellieri,  seeing  the  increasing  force  of  the  Panciatichi,  despaired 
of  dispossessing  them  of  the  plain,  and  therefore  employed  all 
their  craft  to  effect  a  separation  between  the  Panciatichi  in  the 


396  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

country,  and  the  Panciatichi  in  the  city,  in  order  to  weaken  the 
faction ;  in  the  course  of  two  months  they  accomplished  their 
design,  and  a  truce  was  concluded  between  the  Panciatichi  in 
the  country  and  the  Cancellieri  in  the  country,  which  occasioned 
great  feasts  and  rejoicings  in  Pistoia. 

"  This  truce,  however,  had  but  a  short  duration  ;  parties  began 
again  to  rage,  and  mutual  slaughters  were  renewed;  and  al 
though  the  Florentines  knew  that  the  territory  of  the  Pistoians 
was  no  longer  manageable,  on  account  of  the  continual  murders 
and  assassinations  committed  in  it  by  night  and  by  day,  yet 
they  would  not,  or  knew  not  how  to  put  their  hands  to  any 
effectual  remedy;  and  although  they  ordered  into  confinement 
for  three  years,  upon  pain  of  rebellion  for  returning  to  Pistoia, 
all  the  families  of  Bisconti,  Panciatichi,  Cellesi  (except  that  of 
Bernardo,)  Fabbroni,  Matteo  Bmnozzi,  Rossi,  Forteguerri,  Brac- 
ciolini,  Cioci,  and  Gherardi,  and  many  others  specified,  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred,  yet  it  was  not  possible  that  this  banish 
ment  should  have  any  effect ;  because  many  Florentines,  their 
friends,  besides  favoring  and  assisting  them  with  money  and 
other  effects,  obstructed  the  execution  of  it,  which  was  the  prin 
cipal  cause  that  the  Panciatichi  consolidated  themselves  on  the 
plain,  with  the  firm  resolution  not  to  depart  from  it.  The  Pan 
ciatichi,  nevertheless,  were  not  a  little  anxious,  when  they  knew 
that  the  commons  of  Florence  were  against  them;  and  the 
Cancellieri  were  not  less  disturbed  with  fears  when  they  saw 
their  enemies  in  possession  of  the  dominion  of  the  country ;  so 
that  they  were  obliged  to  consider  themselves  as  besieged  in 
Pistoia,  rather  than  as  lords  of  it;  wherefore,  reflecting  that  there 
was  no  blessing  more  necessary  than  peace,  it  was  determined 
by  the  general  council,  that  they  ought  to  have  recourse  to  the 
Most  High  with  pious  and  holy  works,  and  to  this  end  orders 
were  given  to  the  laborers  of  St.  James  the  apostle,  that  ade 
quate  alms  should  be  given  to  all  the  religious  orders,  that  they 
might  by  their  prayers  supplicate  Heaven  to  send  peace  and 
union  among  the  citizens." 

All  this  was  very  commendable  and  proper;  but  to  depend 
uport  these  prayers  alone,  without  changing  their  constitution, 
was  as  irrational  and  presumptuous,  as  for  the  crew  of  a  sinking 
ship  to  pray  for  preservation,  without  working  -the  pumps  or 
stopping  the  leaks. 


PISTOIA.  397 

Accordingly,  in  1501,  they  were  found  to  have  been  ineffica 
cious  ; l  "  for  the  execrable  factions,  in  a  still  greater  effervescence 
of  cruelty,  made  use  of  every  cunning  stratagem,  and  attempted 
every  means  to  destroy  themselves  and  their  country.  The  Cancel- 
lieri,  dreading  that  the  Panciatichi  might  return  to  Pistoia,  deter 
mined  not  only  to  hold  them  at  a  distance  from  the  city,  but  to  drive 
them,  with  all  the  force  they  could  possibly  assemble,  quite  out  of 
the  country ;  and  to  this  purpose,  having  taken  into  their  pay  three 
thousand  foot,  drawn  from  the  country,  the  mountains,  from  Val- 
dinievole,  from  Prato,  and  other  places,  and  fifty  cavalry,  early  in 
the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  February,  they  sallied  out  with  these 
forces,  well-armed,  from  the  gate  Caldatica,  and  went,  one  thou 
sand  men  towards  Montemagno,  and  two  thousand  towards  St. 
Angiolo.  These  last  arrived  at  St.  Angiolo,  entered  the  church, 
spoiled  it  of  every  thing  valuable,  and  set  it  on  fire ;  and  be 
cause  thirty  of  the  Panciatichi,  who  were  posted  as  guards  in  the 
steeple,  knew  it  was  impossible  in  any  manner  to  defend  it,  they 
gave  the  signal  of  their  being  besieged  by  a  flag,  as  had  been 
previously  concerted  with  their  friends  in  the  neighborhood.  Sud 
denly  three  hundred  Panciatichi,  compacted  together  in  the  form 
of  a  squadron,  under  the  command  of  their  captain,  Franco  Gori, 
using  every  artifice  to  avoid  being  discovered  by  the  enemy,  threw 
themselves  by  surprise  into  the  middle  of  the  Cancellieri,  and  in 
a  short  time  broke  and  defeated  to  the  number  of  two  thousand 
persons.  This  victory  was  so  advantageous  to  the  Panciatichi, 
that  three  of  them  only  were  wounded,  and  one  killed,  while  the 
Cancellieri  lost  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  killed,  a  pro 
portionable  number  wounded,  and  many  were  made  prisoners ; 
and  those  few  who  escaped,  threw  down  their  arms,  and  in  small 
numbers  and  great  disorder  fled  towards  Pistoia.  This  splendid 
victory,  with  the  acquisition  of  a  great  booty,  obtained  by  the  Pan 
ciatichi,  animated  them  not  to  shrink  from  any  inconvenience  or 
fatigue  to  prosecute  the  abasement  of  their  enemies ;  wherefore, 
without  loss  of  time,  taking,  to  deceive  their  antagonists,  a  pair 
of  colors  which  had  been  seized  in  the  last  battle,  they  paraded 
with  this  on  their  march,  and  went  to  attack  the  other  Cancel 
lieri,  who,  at  Santo  Nuovo,  had  besieged  their  associates  the 
Panciatichi,  then  guarding  it ;  but  the  Cancellieri,  advertised,  by 
means  of  a  lady,  of  the  artifice,  fled,  with  the  enemy  almost  at 
1  Chap,  xxviii.  p.  385. 

VOL.  V.  34 


398  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

their  heels ;  and  hastily  coasting  round  the  cliffs  of  Casale,  took 
the  road  towards  Collina  and  Fontana,  and  in  confusion,  disband 
ed,  and  covered  over  with  mire,  reached  Pistoia.  This  retreat 
took  up  the  whole  night.  This  flight  of  the  Cancellieri  occasioned 
no  small  damage  to  the  innocent  Panciatichi  who  had  remained 
in  security  in  Pistoia ;  because,  such  fugitive  Cancellieri  as  re 
turned  to  their  country,  had  no  other  thoughts  than  to  revenge 
themselves  wherever  they  could,  by  scouring  the  city,  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  and  falling  upon  those  unhappy  people ;  they  as 
sassinated  in  the  piazza  a  countryman,  and  Felice  di  Marco,  who 
were  of  the  Panciatic  faction,  and  the  others,  wounded  and 
beaten,  by  flying  into  the  fortresses  and  palace  of  the  rettori, 
escaped  their  fury,  and  saved  their  lives. 

"  The  Panciatichi  upon  the  plain  in  the  country,  having  been 
informed  of  the  treachery  committed  upon  their  companions  in 
Pistoia  by  the  Cancellieri,  conceived  against  that  faction  an  in 
dignation  beyond  all  credibility  greater  than  ordinary ;  so  that, 
after  a  little  repose  from  the  fatigues  lately  suffered,  they  pre 
pared  to  persecute  their  enemies  with  greater  ferocity.  Hearing 
that  some  of  them  had  built  a  strong  bastion  in  the  township  of 
Casale,  from  which  fortification  they  daily  made  inroads  among 
the  inhabitants,  and  committed  much  mischief,  they  went,  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  March,  and  took  the  bastion,  the  Cancellieri  who 
guarded  it  shamefully  flying.  Others  of  the  Cancellieri,  in  Ca 
sale  itself,  taking  post  in  the  church  and  in  the  belfry,  after  a 
sharp  conflict,  were  overcome  by  Michelino  Jozzelli  and  Charles 
Nicolai,  many  of  them  cut  to  pieces,  many  others  wounded,  and 
the  rest  pursued  over  the  mountains,  where  they  left  their  arms, 
and  fled  with  precipitation.  Others,  in  the  meadows  of  Vignole 
and  of  Agliana,  were  stripped  and  totally  dispersed  ;  others,  at 
the  bridge  of  Bonelle,  suffered  a  perfect  defeat,  in  which  many 
were  slain,  and  the  rest  fled  in  disorder.  The  Panciatichi,  see 
ing  their  affairs  succeed  so  happily,  prepared  themselves  for 
greater  enterprises,  and  caUing  together  all  their  people,  they 
went  against  the  castle  of  Momigno,  took  it,  and  set  it  on  fire. 
They  then  took  Vinacciano,  and  burnt  all  the  houses  of  the 
Cancellieri;  and  the  houses  of  the  Panciatichi  having  been  a 
little  before  burnt  by  the  Cancellieri,  this  place  by  the  last  con 
flagration  became  entirely  desolate  and  destroyed.  Nor  was  the 
damage  less  that  was  done  at  Montegastoli,  in  the  country  of 


PISTOIA.  399 

Fontana,  of  Collina,  and  of  Gabbiano.  The  Panciatichi  then 
fortified  themselves  at  Montebuono,  and  did  infinite  damage 
from  thence  to  the  party  of  the  Cancellieri,  who,  taking  Giacche- 
rino,  built  by  the  families  of  the  Panciatichi,  made  a  stand 
against  their  enemies,  and  there  followed  in  this  neighborhood 
burnings  of  houses  and  murders  of  people.  At  length  the  two 
factions  descended  towards  the  long  bridge,  and  came  to  battle, 
which  was  cpntinued  for  some  time  with  obstinacy;  but  the 
Cancellieri,  having  the  worst  of  it,  at  last  fled. 

"  The  few  good  and  wise  men  who  remained,  considering  the 
miseries  and  destruction  which  resulted  to  the  city  of  Pistoia 
and  its  territory  from  the  two  unbridled  factions,  exerted  them 
selves  to  assemble  the  general  council,  by  whom  two  citizens 
were  elected,  to  see  that  all  malefactors  should  be  chastised  and 
punished.  But  a  provision  of  this  sort  could  never  be  sufficient 
to  intimidate  a  number  of  factionaries  so  powerful ;  it  accord 
ingly  only  animated  them  to  greater  fury ;  for  the  persons  elected 
being  poorly  attended,  and  provided  with  little  power  or  force, 
how  could  they  be  able  to  restrain  a  desperate  people,  who  re 
quired  extraordinary  rigor,  and  much  greater  energy,  to  render 
them  quiet,  pacific,  and  obedient  ?  This  was  so  well  known  to 
those  ungovernable  people,  that  it  rendered  them  more  fierce, 
proud,  and  insatiable  of  revenge,  so  that  the  Cancellieri,  seeing 
themselves  overcome  in  battle,  determined  to  accumulate  a  great 
quantity  of  money,  in  order  to  provide  men  to  conquer  the  force 
of  their  enemies.  To  this  end,  they  burthened  the  city  of  Pistoia 
with  the  payment  of  twenty  thousand  ducats  of  gold ;  they  sold 
the  effects  of  St.  James,  to  the  amount  of  four  thousand  crowns ; 
they  pawned,  for  eighteen  thousand  crowns  more,  at  Bologna, 
the  chalice  of  gold  of  the  chapel  of  St.  James,  which  weighed 
twenty-two  pounds ;  they  sold  two  angels  of  silver,  a  fathom  and 
an  half  in  height,  and  a  pair  of  candlesticks  which  were  worth  five 
hundred  crowns ;  they  took  a  most  beautiful  basin,  and  an  ewer 
of  silver,  of  the  value  of  four  hundred  crowns ;  moreover,  they 
coined  into  money  other  silver  basins,  and  an  image  of  the  Virgin, 
and  another  of  St.  John,  of  pure  silver,  which  were  of  St.  Zeno, 
and  all  the  dishes  and  basins  of  silver  which  were  in  the  palace 
of  the  supreme  magistrate ;  they  took  from  the  Monte  di  Pieta  six 
thousand  ducats,  and  one  thousand  five  hundred  from  the  House 
of  Wisdom,  and  made  up  a  sum  of  forty  thousand  crowns." 


400  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

In  the  age  and  country  where  these  things  were  done,  this 
robbery  of  churches,  of  saints,  and  angels,  this  plunder  of  holy 
relics,  was  sacrilege  and  impiety  of  the  deepest  dye,  enough  to 
have  shocked  and  revolted  the  city  in  any  other  circumstances ; 
but  the  spirit  of  party  made  it  all  lawful  to  the  Cancellieri  and 
their  followers. 

"  They  made  Mancino  of  Bologna  their  captain,  one  of  the 
bravest  soldiers  of  those  times,  hired  fifteen  hundred  foreigners, 
of  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  called  in  all  their  friends  from  the 
mountains  and  country,  so  that  Pistoia  was  so  full  of  soldiers, 
that  all  the  houses  could  scarcely  hold  them. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  Panciatichi  party  neglected  nothing 
to  procure  all  the  advantages  in  their  power ;  encouraged  by  one 
Pazzaglino,  of  Serravalle,  they  attempted  to  take  that  castle,  in 
which  by  means  of  that  traitor  they  succeeded,  and  they  fortified 
themselves  in  the  post  which  guarded  Valdinievole  and  in  the 
steeples  of  the  churches  of  St.  Stephen  and  St.  Michael.  Both 
parties  being  in  want  of  provisions,  made  excursions  to  the  adja 
cent  country,  reaped  the  grain,  pillaged  cattle,  and  sometimes  burnt 
houses  and  killed  inhabitants,  till  they  reduced  the  places  to  a 
most  miserable  and  deplorable  state.  Having  in  this  manner  pro 
vided  themselves  on  both  sides  with  men,  arms,  and  provisions,  the 
Cancellieri  were  anxious  to  undertake  some  enterprise  with  the 
body  which  they  had  hitherto  kept  in  pay  at  so  great  an  expense 
and  with  so  little  effect.  After  a  consultation,  part  remained  as 
a  guard  in  the  city,  and  part  went  out  to  the  mountain.  Six 
hundred  infantry  and  fifty  cavalry  went  out,  well  armed  and  in 
good  order,  and  attempted  an  assault,  in  two  divisions,  upon 
Brandeglio  and  Castellaccio,  but  were  discouraged  by  a  brave 
defence.  They  then  turned  towards  Cireglio,  and  making  a 
fierce  attack,  they  easily  carried  it,  plundered  it  of  all  that  was 
valuable,  and  utterly  destroyed  it  by  fire.  They  then  went  to 
the  church,  which,  with  its  steeple,  was  full  of  people  and  of 
property;  they  laid  siege  to  it  in  such  a  manner,  that  those  who 
guarded  it  became  irresolute  about  defending  it;  but,  encouraged 
by  the  women  who  had  taken  refuge  there,  who,  like  generous 
amazons,  took  arms  and  repulsed  the  enemy,  they  placed  in 
security  the  goods,  and  in  a  short  time  regained  the  post,  which 
the  men  alone  would  have  abandoned.  The  Cancellieri,  filled 
with  shame  and  disgrace,  returned  to  their  main  body,  and 


PISTOIA.  401 

advised  their  companions  to  return  to  Pistoia ;  but  when  they 
began  their  march,  they  were  so  persecuted  by  the  Panciatichi, 
that  the  killed  and  wounded  exceeded  by  far  those  who  in  confu 
sion  returned  to  the  city.  Then  it  was  that  the  Panciatichi  has 
tened  to  Berrignardo,  Borghetto,  and  Piazza,  and  burnt  all  the 
houses  of  the  Cancellieri ;  and  such  were  the  damages  done  that 
day  by  the  factionaries,  that  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
houses  of  both  parties  were  burned  down. 

"  Those  of  the  party  Panciatichi,  who  had  entered  into  the 
castle  of  Serravalle,  thinking  themselves  in  security,  stood  negli 
gently  on  their  guard  in  that  post ;  intelligence  of  which  being 
sent  to  the  contrary  party,  they  sent,  with  great  haste,  six  hun 
dred  soldiers  upon  an  enterprise  against  the  place.  Two  hun 
dred  took  post  around  it,  and  the  four  hundred  others,  introduced 
by  some  in  the  place  into  the  castle,  began  to  rush  everywhere 
without  control,  so  that  the  Panciatichi,  taken  by  surprise,  retired 
to  other  strong  posts  in  the  neighborhood.  Early  in  the  morn 
ing,  the  Cancellieri  approached  the  steeple  of  St.  Michael,  and 
took  it  by  a  vigorous  assault.  They  afterwards  battered  that  of 
the  church  of  St.  Stephen ;  but  perceiving  that  it  was  not  to  be 
carried  without  some  delay,  they  set  fire  to  the  church,  from 
whence  the  flames  ascending  to  the  balcony,  soon  burnt  those 
who  held  it.  They  intended,  moreover,  to  have  attempted  the 
acquisition  of  the  citadel,  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  Panci 
atichi  were  shut  up ;  but  a  reinforcement  of  five  hundred  infantry, 
and  one  hundred  cavalry,  arriving  to  those  in  the  fort,  and  rein 
forced  farther  with  three  hundred  men  from  the  mountain,  and 
two  hundred  from  Lucca,  conducted  by  Michael  Jozzelli,  who 
had  taken  the  most  important  posts  without  the  walls,  the  castle 
was  besieged  in  such  a  formidable  manner,  that  the  Cancellieri 
lost  all  hopes  of  expelling  the  contrary  faction  from  that  place 
The  Cancellieri  in  Pistoia,  however,  hearing  the  situation  of 
their  companions  in  the  castle  of  Serravalle,  sent,  at  the  approach 
of  evening,  three  hundred  infantry  and  fifty  cavalry,  with  plenty 
of  provisions,  to  reinforce  and  refresh  them;  but  scarcely  had 
these  soldiers  met  the  others  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  when, 
repulsed  and  pursued  by  the  Panciatichi  as  far  as  the  long  bridge, 
they  were  obliged  to  submit  to  the  loss  of  twenty  persons,  many 
arms,  and  all  their  provisions. 

"  In  the  mean  time  there  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Panci- 
34*  z 


402  ON   GOVERNMENT 

atichi,  Martin o  Ciuti  with  two  hundred  men,  the  Captain  Franco 
Gori  with  three  hundred,  and  many  others,  who,  uniting  with 
those  already  there,  amounted  to  three  thousand,  who  attacked 
that  castle  on  the  side  of  the  citadel,  in  which  the  companies 
had  taken  refuge ;  but  seeing  all  their  attempts  were  rendered 
vain,  one  hundred  of  the  most  alert  approached  to  the  gate  with 
such  impetuosity,  that  they  made  a  breach,  and  let  four  hundred 
men  into  the  castle,  who  attacking  the  Cancellieri  in  the  rear,  in 
less  than  an  hour  killed  more  than  three  hundred,  and  made 
more  than  one  hundred  prisoners,  and  permitting  the  foreigners 
to  escape  by  a  shameful  flight,  gained  a  large  booty  of  goods, 
money,  arms,  and  horses.  The  Panciatichi  having  obtained  this 
noble  victory,  the  citizens  of  that  faction  began  to  think  of  endea 
voring  to  return  to  Pistoia ;  but  were  dissuaded  by  their  friends 
of  the  country,  who  would  not  consent.  They  all  went  there 
fore  together  to  their  usual  posts  upon  the  plain,  with  their  pri 
soners  and  rich  plunder.  If  they  had  attempted  to  return  to 
Pistoia,  they  would  not  have  been  opposed,  for  the  factionaries 
in  the  city  were  so  impoverished,  that  many  had  gone  out  of  the 
place ;  and  although  the  bells  of  the  people  were  rung  that  day, 
not  one  person  appeared  in  the  piazza. 

"  There  succeeded  many  more  affrays  and  slaughters,  burnings 
and  depredations,  to  relate  all  of  which  in  detail  would  be  end 
less.  Great  were  the  damages  done  the  same  day  by  the  Panci 
atichi  in  Alliana;  but  by  the  treacherous  misconduct  of  their 
captain,  Martino  Francese,  they  were  disgracefully  repulsed,  had 
many  killed  and  many  wounded;  and,  what  was  more  to  be 
dreaded,  the  Cancellieri  carried  thirteen  of  their  heads  in  triumph 
to  Pistoia,  and  by  that  means  revived  the  courage  of  their  com 
panions,  almost  sunk  in  terror  and  despair.  Great  was  the 
slaughter  of  their  enemies,  and  numerous  the  burnings  of  houses 
committed  by  the  Panciatichi  of  Montagnana,  the  seventh  of 
July,  at  Momigho.  The  tenth  of  July,  the  Panciatichi  of  Bran- 
deglio  collected  a  large  number  of  men  from  the  plain  and  the 
mountain,  and  burnt  all  the  houses  of  the  Cancellieri  which  were 
at  Satornana,  and  at  St.  Felice,  and  plundered  the  property  and 
the  cattle.  The  twentieth  of  July  the  Cancellieri  burnt  in  Pis 
toia  eight  houses  and  six  shops  of  the  Bracciolini,  and  set  fire 
to  three  houses  of  Gio.  di  Franco,  and  demolished  the  house  of 
Francisco  Cellesi,  near  St.  Prospero.  The  twenty-eighth  of  July, 


PISTOIA.  403 

the  Cancellieri  went  to  Montebuono,  a  town  of  the  Panciatichi, 
took  it  by  treachery,  and  burnt  it,  after  having  made  twelve  pri 
soners  ;  whom  they  conducted  to  Pistoia,  led  into  the  hall  of  a 
house  inhabited  by  Giuliano  Dragucci,  where  they  strangled 
them,  and  threw  them  out  of  the  window.  This,  which  they 
called  justice,  they  compelled  a  priest  to  execute,  who  was  in  the 
number  of  the  prisoners,  and  then  they  put  the  priest  to  death 
in  the  same  manner.  Much  destruction  was  made  by  fire  on  the 
thirtieth  of  July,  in  the  commons  belonging  to  the  house  of  the 
bishop,  and  in  other  places,  by  the  Panciatichi ;  but  no  less  were 
the  evils  committed  the  same  day  by  fire  by  the  Cancellieri  in 
the  township  of  Bonelle ;  and  in  so  many  other  places  were  such 
excesses  committed  by  the  two  factions,  that  they  reduced  Pistoia 
to  be  the  most  unhappy  among  all  the  miserable  cities  of  Italy ; 
its  whole  territory  was  one  scene  of  burnings,  murders,  and 
captivity  of  men,  and  the  citizens  themselves  were  become  the 
talk  and  the  scorn  of  the  whole  world.  The  Florentines,  who,  as 
imperial  vicars,  had  some  pretensions  to  interfere  in  the  govern 
ment  of  Pistoia,  derived  from  the  Emperor  Robert,  had  neglected 
till  they  reproached  themselves,  to  attempt  any  salutary  remedy 
to  so  many  evils. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  August,  the  Cancellieri,  the  faction  which 
had  now  the  dominion  in  Pistoia,  considering  that  the  Panciati 
chi  were  masters  of  the  country,  and  were  well  furnished  with 
provisions,  while  the  city  was  in  danger  of  famine,  assembled  in 
the  public  palace  to  deliberate ;  and  they  concluded  it  would  be 
for  the  advantage  of  their  country,  and  of  both  parties,  to  make 
peace  with  the  Panciatichi.  This  resolution  was  soon  commu 
nicated  to  the  Panciatichi,  who  suddenly  consented  to  treat.  At 
this  time  the  Florentines  offered  their  mediation,  proposed  arti 
cles,  and  sent  troops  to  keep  order,  &c." 

The  particulars  of  this  negotiation  were  curious  enough,  but 
this  essay  is  already  too  long.  The  wisest  and  most  prudent 
men  in  the  city  held  secret  communications,  sometimes  with  one 
party,  sometimes  with  the  other,  and  then  with  the  Florentines, 
till  at  last  they  prevailed  to  have  a  general  council  called.  This 
consisted  wholly  of  Cancellieri,  for  the  Panciatichi  were  still  in 
the  country,  and  consequently  the  demands  of  the  latter  were 
thought  too  considerable.  Such  controversies  arose,  even  among 
the  Cancellieri,  that  it  was  feared  nothing  would  ever  be  con- 


404  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

eluded.  Some  juggling  monkish  trick  at  last  succeeded ;  a  dove, 
white  and  black,  (bianca  e  nera,)  after  the  similitude  of  the  arms 
of  the  Panciatichi  family,  flew  down  upon  the  seat  of  the  su 
preme  magistrate,  and  gave  manifest  signs  that  the  Most  High 
was  in  favor  of  peace ;  the  hard  hearts  of  the  Cancellieri  relented, 
and  peace  was  made.  The  great  affair  of  the  appointment  of  a 
director  of  the  hospital  was  settled,  by  giving  each  party  alter 
nately  the  appointment.  The  Panciatichi  were  restored  to  the 
city ;  all  crimes  and  atrocities  were  pardoned,  and  to  be  forgot 
ten.  Eight  citizens  were  to  reform  the  government  in  such  a 
manner,  that  the  gonfalonier,  and  all  the  other  officers,  should  be 
equally  drawn  from  each  faction  ;  and  the  families  enlisted  under 
the  Panciatichi  on  one  side,  and  under  the  Cancellieri  on  the 
other,  were  all  named  and  recorded. 

"  Seditions  and  tumults  had  ceased;  the  two  factions  enjoyed 
in  Pistoia  a  tranquillity  that  they  believed  would  be  lasting  ;  but 
the  habits  of  discord  were  not  eradicated,  passions  were  not  ex 
tinguished,  and  the  parties  were  not  balanced.  Accordingly,  in 
1502,  the  symptoms  were  discovered  of  a  hidden  gangrene ;  the 
Cancellieri  pretended  to  have  been  exempted  by  the  general 
council,  from  accounting  for  what  they  had  taken  from  the  com 
mons  and  from  pious  places ;  and  the  Panciatichi  demanded  to 
be  refunded  in  part,  if  not  in  the  whole,  of  the  damages  done  by 
fire  to  their  houses ;  but  as  the  general  council,  and  the  other 
offices  of  the  city,  were  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  sub 
jects  of  the  two  factions,  one  party  refused  to  approve  of  the 
petition  of  the  other.  This  exasperated  their  minds  to  such  a 
degree,  that  the  usual  factions  arose,  and  proceeded  to  blows  and 
to  arms.  They  were  soon  separated  by  the  Florentine  troops  of 
cavalry  and  infantry,  who  were  posted  as  guards  in  Pistoia,  and 
obliged,  without  laying  down  their  hatred,  indignation,  and  ran 
cor,  to  return  to  their  houses ;  there  they  prepared  to  give  a  fresh 
scope  to  their  passions ;  and  the  Cancellieri,  as  the  most  power 
ful,  causing  to  be  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Panciatichi  the 
fortresses  they  held,  began  anew  to  prepare  for  driving  them  alto 
gether  out  of  the  state  of  Pistoia. 

"  The  Panciatichi,  penetrating  the  designs  of  the  Cancellieri, 
made  no  delay  in  providing  men,  and  each  party  introducing 
them  by  night,  stood  waiting  the  chance  to  execute  their  ill  de 
signs.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  February,  the  Cancellieri,  in 


PISTOIA.  405 

three  divisions,  fortified  themselves,  with  three  hundred  men  at 
the  gate  of  Guidi,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  on  the  hill  in  the 
street  of  St.  John,  and  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  street 
near  St.  Dominic.  A  party  of  the  Panciatichi  coming  in  from  the 
country,  occasioned  the  battle  to  begin ;  but  the  Panciatichi  out 
numbered,  and  almost  surrounded  by  their  enemies,  were  com 
pelled  again  to  abandon  the  town  with  precipitation  and  dis 
order. 

"  The  Panciatichi,  thus  expelled  a  second  time  from  the  city, 
dispersed  in  divers  places  on  the  plain;  and  the  Cancellieri 
remaining  lords  of  Pistoia,  suddenly  shut  the  gates,  and  went 
with  unbridled  rage  to  plundering,  burning,  and  destroying  all 
the  remaining  houses  and  substance  of  the  Panciatichi.  They 
robbed  and  burned  the  houses  of  the  Rossi,  Forteguerri,  Cellesi, 
Radda,  Bambolino,  Doffo,  Gualfreducci,  as  well  as  the  Panci 
atichi,  and  many  others.  Meditating  still  greater  cruelties,  they 
ran  in  great  fury  to  the  public  palace,  and  all  those  of  the 
magistracy  who  were  of  the  party  of  the  Panciatichi,  whom 
they  could  find,  they  most  cruelly  put  to  death.  In  this  state  of 
things,  those  who  presided  over  the  administration  of  justice, 
supported  by  the  Florentines,  attempted  to  provide  a  remedy 
against  new  combinations,  and  made  the  disturbers  lay  down 
their  arms.  To  make  an  example,  they  hanged  Puccino  Puccini, 
whom  they  found  guilty  of  the  murder  of  the  supreme  magis 
trates;  and  declared  thirteen  others  outlaws,  whom  they  con 
demned  for  high  treason,  for  the  contempt  shown  to  the  supreme 
authority ;  these  were  driven  out  of  Pistoia,  and  fled  to  Montale. 

"This  rigor  of  justice,  however,  instead  of  restoring  quiet  to 
Pistoia,  served  rather  to  hasten  its  ruin  ;  because  the  Panciatichi 
fortified  themselves  with  bastions  of  wood,  well  furnished  with 
arms  and  men,  near  the  bridge  di  Bonelle,  by  means  of  which 
they  controlled  the  whole  city,  and  kept  the  minds  of  the  Can 
cellieri  in  constant  agitation,  till  the  pride  and  ferocity  of  the 
two  parties  suffered  not  a  day  to  pass  in  the  city  or  the  country 
without  rencounters,  burnings,  and  slaughter. 

"  The  Panciatichi,  being  thus  fortified  at  Bonelle,  and  other 
places  of  the  plain,  concluded  to  make  an  exertion  of  all  their 
possible  strength  totally  to  destroy  the  contrary  party;  to  this 
purpose,  early  one  morning,  they  separated  into  several  divisions, 
traversed  that  extensive  country  by  different  routes,  and  after  a 


406  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

few  hours  all  met  together  to  assault  sixteen  houses  belonging 
to  the  Tesi,  Mati,  and  other  Cancellieri  families;  these  they 
stripped  of  the  most  valuable  effects,  and  burnt  to  the  ground. 
The  Cancellieri  hastened  in  great  numbers  to  prevent  so  great 
a  misfortune ;  but  the  fury  and  the  strength  of  the  Panciatichi 
were  such,  that,  after  having  killed  and  wounded  many,  they 
obliged  the  rest  to  fly.  Their  flight  animated  the  Panciatichi  to 
set  fire  without  delay  to  all  the  houses  in  that  vast  plain,  and 
produced  a  conflagration,  which  the  historian  could  compare  to 
nothing  better  than  the  opening  of  one  of  the  mouths  of  hell.* 

"  Pistoia,  being  in  this  deplorable  condition,  and  deprived  of 
all  succor  and  assistance,  was  filled  with  people  given  up  to  a 
licentious  way  of  living,  without  fear  of  divine,  and  much  less 
of  human  justice,  who  committed  continual  insolence  and  wick 
edness  of  every  kind.  Wherefore  many,  knowing  the  great 
damage  which  resulted  to  their  country,  instigated  the  general 
council  to  elect  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  learned  citizens,  with 
supreme  authority,  to  administer  full  and  summary  justice,  in 
order  to  find  a  remedy  for  so  great  disorders,  and  extinguish  so 
great  a  fire  by  punishing  every  fault,  and  reducing  the  people  to 
the  necessity  of  embracing  peace  and  tranquillity.  The  coun 
cil  complied  with  the  petition  of  the  principal  citizens  of  the 
place,  and  taking  all  authority  from  the  podesta  and  captain, 
conferred  the  title  of  doge  upon  Mariotto  di  Peraccino  del  Guida, 
a  doctor  of  laws  living  at  Porta  Guidi,  and  gave  him  all  the 
authority  of  the  council  itself.  Mariotto  assumed  the  govern 
ment  of  the  city,  acted  with  so  much  rectitude,  that  no  man 
could  complain  of  his  partiality,  and  introduced  so  much  tran 
quillity  into  the  city,  as  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  Florence, 
which  feared  that  it  might  thereby  be  defeated  in  the  end  it  was 
aiming  at. 

"  But  the  Cancellieri,  as  being  those  who  had  been  the  occa 
sion  of  the  exaltation  of  Mariotto,  desirous  of  demonstrating 
their  superiority  in  all  matters,  soon  gave  occasion  to  the  general 
council  to  apprehend  fresh  evils.  They  therefore  appointed  for 
the  doge  three  of  the  wisest  and  most  prudent  citizens  for  his 
counsellors,  that,  amidst  such  dangers,  he  might  be  animated 
and  assisted  to  relax  nothing  in  repressing  the  pride  of  restless 

*  Sembrava  essersi  aperta  in  quelle  parti,  una  bocca  di  inferno,    p.  394. 


PISTOIA.  407 

spirits,  and  that  he  might  be  more  ardent  in  reducing  the  people 
to  order  and  quiet.  All  these  endeavors,  however,  availed  little ; 
for  Jacopo  Savello  coming  to  Pistoia  with  a  hundred  men  in 
arms,  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  in  aid  of  the  Cancellieri,  these 
determined  to  go  out  to  the  attack  of  the  Panciatichi.  Uniting 
three  hundred  men  to  the  soldiers  of  Savello,  they  issued  out  of 
the  city  in  two  squadrons,  one  of  which  went  to  assault  the 
houses  of  the  Giacomelli,  and  the  other  went  towards  the  abbey 
of  Pacciana,  where,  having  routed  a  hundred  cavalry  of  the 
Panciatichi,  they  returned  to  unite  with  the  other  division,  and 
both  went  to  work  to  rob  the  houses  of  every  thing  valuable, 
and  then  to  set  them  on  fire,  and  put  the  inhabitants  to  the 
sword.  In  the  mean  time  the  party  of  the  Panciatichi,  nume-# 
rous  in  armed  men,  marching  suddenly  in  front 'of  the  enemy, 
thought  to  revenge  themselves  for  their  past  defeat,  by  the  total 
extermination  of  the  Cancellieri.  But,  because  the  river  Om- 
brone,  which  lay  between,  hindered  the  two  parties  from  coming 
to  a  fierce  battle,  frequent  skirmishes  ensued  on  its  banks,  which 
after  a  long  time  appearing  about  to  terminate  to  the  disadvan 
tage  of  the  Cancellieri,  this  was  the  reason  that,  intimidated 
by  the  force  of  the  contrary  party,  they  hastily  retired,  with 
Jacopo  Savello,  towards  Alliana ;  and  in  the  confusion  they 
abandoned  the  greatest  part  of  their  arms.  This  general  depre 
dation  ruined  the  crops,  and  the  country  was  afflicted  with  a 
severe  famine,  which  obliged  Savello  to  leave  Pistoia. 

"  The  Cancellieri  of  Gavin  ana,  desirous  of  restoring  to  Igno 
the  Cancellieri,  their  companions,  who  had  been  banished  from 
thence,  assembled  a  body  of  men,  who,  joining  with  two  hun 
dred  and  sixty  persons,  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  that  came  out 
to  their  assistance  from  the  city,  advanced  to  make  trial  of  their 
strength  ;  but,  meeting  with  their  fellow  factionaries  from  the 
mountain,  and  making  up  five  hundred  foot,  and  one  hundred 
horse,  they  all  directed  their  march  towards  Pitellio,  and  en 
camped  near  the  old  parish  church,  where  they  waited  two  days 
the  arrival  of  other  forces,  to  make  a  united  assault  upon  that 
castle.  Not  seeing  them  arrive,  and  fearing  that  succor  might 
come  to  the  Pitellians  from  their  friends  in  St.  Marcello,  they 
laid  aside  their  meditated  enterprise,  and  returned  to  their 
homes. 

"  The  Panciatichi  of  the  mountain,  finding  themselves  dis- 


408  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

turbed  by  the  Cancellieri,  thought  it  a  duty  to  revenge  them 
selves;  and  collecting  for  that  purpose  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men  at  Cutigliano,  began  to  scour  the  country  and  commit 
depredations.  They  were  encountered  with  a  great  booty,  and  a 
sharp  engagement  ensued,  and,  after  three  hours,  the  Panciatichi 
thought  it  convenient  to  leave  their  prey,  and  retreat,  to  save 
their  lives,  to  Lizzano.  The  Cancellieri,  having  recovered  their 
property,  and  observing  the  retreat  of  the  Panciatichi  into  certain 
houses  of  Lizzano,  marched  into  it.  Then  the  Panciatichi  of 
Lizzano,  for  fear  of  the  contrary  party,  who  were  increased  to 
five  hundred  persons,  and  thinking  to  save  their  property  and  the 
furniture  of  their  houses,  deposited  them  in  the  church  and  its 
steeple,  to  which  also  the  women  and  the  men  retired.  The 
Cancellieri  arriving  in  Lizzano,  and  finding  all  the  houses  aban 
doned,  pillaged  all  that  was  left  in  them,  and  then  burnt  them. 
They  then  laid  siege  to  the  church  and  steeple  in  so  close  a 
manner,  that  there  was  no  space  left  for  the  Panciatichi  to 
escape.  The  Cancellieri  sent  notice  to  their  fellows  in  the 
city,  country,  and  mountains,  to  send  them  immediate  succor, 
that  they  might  have  dead,  or  prisoners,  their  confined  enemies. 
One  thousand  five  hundred  men  appeared,  and  took  away  from 
the  besieged  all  hope  of  assistance.  In  this  desperate  situation 
there  was  no  proposal  of  surrender  or  capitulation.  The  Can 
cellieri  repeatedly  assaulted  their  enemy ;  but  they  obstinately 
defended  themselves,  and  often  wounded  the  assailants.  These 
at  length  renewed  the  enterprise  by  fire,  and  attacked  both  the 
church  and  steeple  in  that  manner.  Those  in  the  church  could 
no  longer  endure  the  raging  flames,  and  all  retired  into  the  stee 
ple.  This  place  not  being  capacious  enough  for  all,  many  were 
suffocated  with  the  heat  and  smoke.  The  Panciatichi,  reduced 
to  this  state  of  misery,  were  by  some  of  the  Cancellieri  promised 
their  lives  if  they  would  surrender.  Eighteen  of  the  besieged 
took  advantage  of  these  fair  words ;  but  scarcely  were  they  in 
the  power  of  their  enemies,  when  they  were  perfidiously  put  to 
death ;  none  of  the  rest  would  surrender,  but  resolved  to  perish 
in  the  balcony.  The  besiegers,  seeing  this  courageous  resolution, 
increased  the  fire  under  the  balcony  in  such  a  degree,  that  the 
flames  arising  around  and  above  it,  many  of  the  poor  wretches 
within  it,  tormented  with  smoke,  and  heat,  and  pain,  sunk  under 
their  misery ;  and  the  more  they  deafened  the  square  below  with 


PISTOIA.  409 

their  cries,  the  more  their  inhuman  enemies  exerted  themselves 
to  distress  them. 

"  The  party  of  the  Panciatichi  of  the  plain,  advised  of  these 
miseries  in  which  their  friends  of  the  mountains  were  involved, 
and  not  able  to  endure  the  horrid  excesses  which  were  com 
mitted,  expedited,  under  the  command  of  Toso,  the  brother  of 
the  Captain  Franco  Gori,  at  once  to  Pupillio  four  hundred  in 
fantry,  and  one  hundred  cavalry,  who  giving  notice  to  all  the 
factionaries  of  the  mountains,  that  they  might  come  to  the  relief 
of  their  friends,  in  a  short  time  had  an  army  of  a  thousand  men 
and  more,  besides  a  large  number  of  cavalry.  Taking  posses 
sion  of  proper  posts,  and  making  suitable  fortifications,  Toso,  by 
a  great  shout,  gave  a  signal  of  the  succor  arrived  to  the  poor 
victims  besieged  in  the  balcony.  The  Cancellieri,  when  they 
discovered  this  reinforcement,  sent  parties  suddenly  to  repulse 
them,  who  found  them  so  well  fortified,  that  any  attempt  against 
them  must  be  ineffectual.  Succors  from  all  parts  arriving  to  the 
Panciatichi,  the  Cancellieri  found  it  necessary  to  raise  the  siege, 
and  retire  without  risking  a  battle.  The  besieged  who  survived 
the  pain,  hunger,  and  other  miseries,  came  out  of  that  steeple 
and  balcony,  where  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  were 
found  dead  by  the  heat,  thirst,  and  hunger ;  and  their  liberators, 
not  caring  to  pursue  their  fugitive  enemies,  only  set  fire  to  their 
houses,  by  which  new  conflagration  there  was  not  a  house  left 
in  these  two  beautiful  villages. 

"  The  Panciatichi  having  avenged  the  wrongs  done  to  their 
friends,  took  the  road  of  St.  Marcello,  to  return  to  the  plain  ;  but 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  deviating  without  military  order, 
were  unexpectedly  attacked  by  the  people  of  Calamecca ;  and 
not  being  able  to  defend  themselves,  they  found  it  convenient  to 
save  their  lives  by  taking  their  flight  in  the  night.  This  event 
instigated  the  Panciatichi  to  increase  their  forces,  to  destroy 
entirely  the  contrary  party ;  and  hiring  to  this  end,  troops  from 
Ferrara,  Modena,  and  Lucca,  they  brought  together  four  hun 
dred  infantry,  and  one  hundred  cavalry,  who,  continually  in 
creasing,  gave  cause  to  the  Cancellieri  to  prepare  for  new  bat 
tles  ;  the  whole  country  was  so  excited,  that  from  the  great 
preparations  of  both  parties  for  war,  nothing  remained  to  be 
expected  but  to  see  the  utter  ruin  of  those  places. 

"  In  this  miserable  state  of  things,  Louis,  King  of  France,  ex- 
VOL.  v.  35 


410  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

cited  the  Florentines  to  interpose.  They  elected  thirteen  com 
missaries,  and  gave  them  full  power.  These  prohibited  all  to 
wear  arms,  and  cited  the  heads  of  the  factions,  both  of  the  Pan- 
ciatichi  and  Cancellieri,  in  the  city,  country,  and  mountain,  to 
appear  at  Florence  on  the  twentieth  of  August.  Of  the  heads 
of  the  Panciatic  faction  who  appeared  at  Florence  in  obedi 
ence  to  the  order,  were  six  of  the  principal  men  of  the  Panciati- 
chi  family,  four  of  the  Cellesi,  four  of  the  Bisconti,  seven  of  the 
Brunozzi,  three  of  the  Gherardi,  and  four  of  the  Rossi.  Bar- 
tolomeo  Panciatichi,  M.  Goro  Ghieri,  and  Captain  Giuliano 
Gherardi,  with  seven  others,  refused  to  come,  and  incurred  the 
penalty  of  banishment  as  rebels.  Of  the  heads  of  the  Cancel 
lieri  party,  there  appeared  in  Florence  in  obedience  to  the  cita 
tion,  two  of  the  Cancellieri,  three  of  the  Gatteschi,  three  of  the 
Ambrogi,  two  of  Perraccino,  three  of  the  Melocchi,  three  of  the 
Tonti,  and  two  of  the  Odaldi;  nine  refused  to  go,  and  were 
declared  rebels.  Six  of  the  heads  of  the  Panciatichi  on  the 
plain  appeared,  and  four  of  those  on  the  mountain,  and  an  equal 
number  of  the  Cancellieri  from  each.  As  soon  as  they  appeared 
in  Florence,  seven  of  the  Cancellieri,  and  six  of  the  Panciatichi, 
were  committed  to  prison,  and  all  the  rest  forbidden  to  leave 
Florence  on  pain  of  banishment  as  rebels. 

"  The  Florentine  commissaries  then  took  all  public  offices,  and 
the  public  revenue,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Pistoians,  and  im 
posed  heavy  fines  on  the  leaders  for  breaking  the  peace.  Upon 
examination  it  was  found,  that  more  than  four  hundred  houses 
had  been  burnt  in  the  city,  and  more  than  sixteen  hundred  in 
the  country." 

The  rigor  of  the  Florentines1  preserved  the  peace  but  a  short 
time,  for  in  the  next  year  the  two  factions  of  the  Cancellieri  and 
Panciatichi  broke  out  into  another  civil  war,  as  violent  and 
destructive  as  ever.  But  let  us  pass  over  the  particulars,  and 
mention  only  a  few  circumstances. 

"  The  Florentines  again  made  peace  in  Pistoia  by  their  com 
missaries,  imprisonments,  fines,  and  other  severities,  which  the 
Pistoians  were  too  much  exhausted  to  resist.  In  1505,  the  Pi 
stoians  petitioned  Florence  to  be  restored  to  the  honors,  offices, 
and  revenues  of  the  city ;  and  it  was  granted. 

l  Chap.  xxix.  p.  401. 


PISTOIA.  411 

"  The  Pistoians  were  such  friends  of  the  house  of  Medici, 
that  they  had  the  address  to  escape,  at  the  time  when  the  Spa 
nish  army  invaded  Prato,  and  committed  such  cruelties  and 
devastations  there. 

"John  de'  Medici  was  made  pope,  and  assumed  the  name  of 
Leo  X.,  and  the  Pistoians  made  such  rejoicings  upon  this  occa 
sion,  and  sent  such  congratulations  by  their  ambassadors  to  the 
pope,  and  to  Julian  his  brother,  and  Lorenzo  his  nephew,  as 
recommended  them  to  favor. 

"  In  1514,  the  families  of  Panciatichi,  Cancellieri,  Ricciardi, 
Gualfreducci  and  Vergiolesi,  who  in  1369,  had  been  forbidden 
to  have,  obtain,  or  exercise  the  offices  and  dignities  of  the  city 
of  Pistoia,  its  country,  or  mountains,  supplicated,  with  others, 
to  be  admitted  to  public  offices  and  honors.  Their  petition  was 
repeatedly  rejected  by  the  council;  but  at  length,  by  the  influ 
ence  and  intercession  of  the  pope,  Leo  X.,  they,  their  children, 
and  descendants,  were  restored  and  admitted  to  all  the  honors 
demanded." 

Is  there  in  history  a  more  curious  fact  ?  These  families  were, 
by  an  obstinate,  arbitrary,  and  stupid  law,  excluded  from  all 
offices  and  share  in  government ;  yet  it  was  impossible  to  esta 
blish  a  government  that  could  control  them,  and  they  disposed 
of  all  offices,  and  the  whole  government,  divided  as  they  were 
into  two  parties,  struggling  for  the  whole  time,  and  butchering 
each  other,  that  one  of  them  might  rule  the  whole. 

One  spark  of  malignity  remained  concealed  in  the  minds  of 
the  factionaries,  the  Panciatichi  and  Cancellieri,  and  in  1515 
broke  out  in  a  furious  flame,  extending  into  the  plain  and  the 
mountains.  From  tumults  and  murders  both  parties  proceeded 
to  make  preparations  of  men  and  arms,  to  revive  the  civil  wars 
in  all  their  horrors.  But  the  Florentines,  that  is  to  say  the 
Medici  family,  interposed  with  such  energy,  as  restored  the  pub 
lic  tranquillity ;  in  order  to  preserve  which  they  drew  off  many 
of  the  turbulent  spirits,  by  taking  them  into  their  service  as 
guards,  &c. 

"After  the  death1  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  Charles  of 
Austria,  King  of  Spain,  was  elevated  to  the  throne  of  Caesar, 
and  was  called  Charles  V.  Upon  this  event  the  Pistoians  ex- 

1  Chap.  xxx.  p.  410. 


412  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

pected  some  innovations,  but  the  emperor  was  prevailed  upon 
by  Leo  X.  to  make  no  change  in  the  government  of  Tuscany ; 
on  the  contrary  the  emperor  confirmed  to  the  Florentines  the 
privileges  of  the  state,  authority,  and  lands,  of  which  they  were 
in  possession. 

"  Giulio  de'  Medici  was  seated  on  the  pontifical  throne,  and 
called  Clement  VII.  The  Pistoians  did  honor  to  his  elevation 
by  great  rejoicings,  and  by  an  embassy  of  congratulation  ;  which 
produced  a  letter  from  the  pope  full  of  paternal  affection  for  the 
city  of  Pistoia,  and  abounding  in  praises  of  the  citizens  who 
composed  it." 

The  ascendency  of  the  Medici  family  was  not,  however,  suffi 
ciently  established  to  prevent  a  civil  war  from  breaking  out 
again  in  Pistoia  between  the  Cancellieri  and  Panciatichi. 

"  An  obstinate  battle  was  fought  between  them,  which  lasted 
seven  hours,  and  the  Panciatichi  were  again  obliged  to  leave  the 
city,  and  go  into  the  country  to  their  usual  mischief.  They 
returned  in  a  short  time  with  additional  force,  fought  the  Can 
cellieri  again,  and  obtained  a  victory,  not  without  a  multitude 
of  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides.  After  this  new  tumult 
many  prayers  were  appointed  in  Pistoia,  to  obtain  the  extirpa 
tion  of  civil  discord.  The  insurrection  was  soon  heard  of  in 
Florence,  and  Niccolo  Capponi,  whose  prudence  was  esteemed 
equal  to  his  valor,  was  sent  as  commissary,  with  an  army, 
to  suppress  it.  With  great  difficulty,  and  much  severity,  he 
succeeded  in  making  a  peace,  or  a  truce,  between  the  two 
parties." 

In  1527,  the  same  factions  revived  their  hostilities,  but  the 
leaders  were  seized  and  sent  to  Florence,  and  imprisoned,  and 
mulcted  in  fines  so  severe  as  intimidated  others.  Charles,  Duke 
of  Bourbon,  with  a  large  army  of  Spaniards  and  Germans, 
approached  the  Alps  of  Tuscany,  and  threw  the  Pistoians  into 
an  uncommon  agitation ;  but  a  great  fall  of  snow  obliged  him 
to  divert  his  course  from  Pistoia  to  Rome. 

"  The  Florentines  having,  in  1527,  banished  the  Medici,  and 
taken  down,  with  great  impetuosity,  the  arms  of  that  family 
from  every  place  in  the  city,  Charles  V.,  in  1529,  took  upon 
himself  the  obligation  of  entirely  reestablishing  that  family  in 
that  city ;  and  to  this  end  he  commissioned  Philibert,  Prince  of 
Orange,  to  lay  siege  to  Florence  with  a  large  army  of  Italians 


PISTOIA.  413 

and  Germans.  The  Florentines  made  great  preparations  for 
defence,  not  only  of  their  city,  but  also  of  Pistoia.  They  sent 
into  it  five  companies  of  infantry,  and  placed  each  gate  of  the 
city  under  a  company,  and  the  piazza  under  the  fifth,  all  under 
commanders  in  whom  they  had  confidence.  But  all  these  exer 
tions  of  the  Florentines  for  the  security  of  the  city  of  Pistoia, 
and  to  maintain  it  at  their  devotion,  appeared,  even  to  them 
selves,  to  be  vain  and  of  little  moment,  if  the  good-will  of  the 
two  factions  of  the  Panciatichi  and  Cancellieri  could  not  be 
obtained ;  and  as  the  Cancellieri  were  already  naturally  inclined 
to  their  views,  they  courted  and  complimented  the  Panciatichi 
as  the  most  powerful,  and  as  the  adherents  to  the  Medici ;  and 
to  accomplish  their  purpose  they  called  to  Florence  some  of  the 
heads  of  that  party,  and,  admitting  them  into  their  council  of 
war,  affected  a  great  esteem  for  their  judgments  and  opinions  in 
things  of  the  greatest  importance. 

"  The  Pistoians,  however,  placed  little  confidence  in  those 
who  at  this  time  had  the  sway  in  Florence ;  they  therefore 
created  a  new  magistrate  over  all  affairs  of  the  war,  and  gave  him 
ample  authority  to  do  every  thing  for  the  advantage  of  the  city. 
This  magistrate  esteemed  the  five  companies  insufficient  for  the 
defence  of  the  city,  and  sent  to  Florence  for  more ;  but  he  was 
answered,  that  the  troops  of  Charles  V.  were  approaching  to 
lay  siege  to  Florence,  and  that  the  forces  of  their  enemies  in 
creased  every  day,  so  that  they  had  enough  to  think  and  to  do 
for  their  own  defence;  that  the  Pistoians  must  therefore  make 
use  of  the  means  they  had  for  their  own  salvation ;  and  to  this 
end  they  gave  orders  to  their  commissary,  who  resided  in  Pistoia 
in  behalf  of  the  commons  of  Florence,  that  he  should  release 
freely  into  the  hands  of  the  Pistoians  the  balia  of  their  city, 
that  they  might  both  govern  and  defend  themselves  ;  and  to 
their  soldiers,  posted  as  guards,  to  return  with  all  possible  expe 
dition  to  Florence.  These  orders  of  their  principals  were  sud 
denly  executed  by  the  commissary  and  podesta.  Pistoia  re 
mained  free  from  the  yoke  of  the  Imperial  vicars,  provided  itself 
with  men,  arms,  and  provisions;  but  dreading  the  army  of 
Charles  V.  on  one  side,  and  the  Panciatichi  being  known  to 
favor  the  Medici,  they  sent  four  ambassadors  of  that  party  to 
offer  the  keys  of  the  city  to  the  pope,  and  pray  his  intercession 
with  the  emperor  that  his  army  might  not  enter  their  territory. 
35* 


414  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Many  of  the  citizens,  intimidated  by  the  uncertainty  of  the 
times,  absented  themselves.  "  Not  being  able  to  foresee  the 
end  of  the  war,  the  advising  council  adopted  another  measure, 
the  appointment  of  ambassadors  to  Florence  to  obtain  a  recon 
sideration  of  their  resolution.  This  produced  such  a  rage  in 
the  Panciatichi  party,  that  one  of  the  ambassadors,  Tonti,  was 
assassinated,  and  a  riot  instantly  ensued,  in  which  eighteen  of 
the  Cancellieri  lost  their  lives,  and  the  whole  party  was  driven 
out  of  the  city,  and  their  houses  plundered  and  burnt,  particu 
larly  the  celebrated  palace  of  that  family  near  St.  Luke's.  The 
principal  actors  in  this  mischief  having  made  a  rich  booty  of 
money  and  jewels,  fled  to  Bologna,  where  they  were  most  gra 
ciously  received  and  pardoned  by  the  pope. 

"  At  this  time  the  real  extinction  of  the  faction  of  the  Cancel 
lieri  followed  ;  because  the  Panciatichi,  favorites  of  the  pontiff, 
as  adherents  of  the  house  of  Medici,  assumed  such  vigor,  that 
enraged  not  only  against  the  Cancellieri  of  the  city,  but  of  the 
country,  both  on  the  plain  and  in  the  mountains,  they  sacked, 
burnt,  and  destroyed,  the  greater  part  of  their  houses,  spreading 
ruin  and  devastation  as  they  went,  in  Cavinana,  Lanciole,  Cu- 
tigliano,  Spignano,  and  all  the  other  castles  and  possessions  of 
the  Cancellieri.  The  people  of  Serra,  followers  of  the  Panciati 
chi,  burnt  the  castle  of  Calamecca,  which  held  for  the  party  of 
the  Cancellieri;  these  were  so  inflamed  with  resentment,  that, 
with  the  help  of  some  companies  of  Lombards,  they  compelled 
their  enemy  to  fly,  some  of  whom  retreating  for  safety  into  the 
church  of  Crespole,  were  there  besieged,  and  all  put  to  death ; 
others  retired  to  the  belfry,  and  there  fortified  themselves,  so  as 
to  hope  to  escape  the  fury  of  their  persecutors,  but  in  vain,  for 
the  assailants,  disappointed  of  their  vengeance  by  the  sword, 
resolved  to  obtain  it  by  famine.  The  Panciatichi  being  reduced 
to  this  state,  one  of  their  most  daring  soldiers,  named  Appol- 
lonio  di  Dante,  to  deliver  his  companions  from  the  hands  of 
their  enemies,  precipitated  himself  from  the  tower,  and  his  cloak 
taking  the  wind,  he  descended  with  no  other  injury  than  a  slight 
hurt  in  one  of  his  arms.  Running  first  to  Serra,  and  then  to 
Pistoia,  he  roused  one  of  the  Cellesi  to  march,  with  a  good  body 
of  soldiers,  to  the  relief  of  the  besieged.  After  this,  Pitellio, 
Pupillio,  and  Mammiano,  by  turning  to  the  party  of  the  Panci 
atichi,  suffered  no  other  damage  than  the  loss  of  a  multitude  of 


PISTOIA.  415 

their  inhabitants,  who  were  driven  from  their  habitations  as 
adherents  to  the  Cancellieri." 

The  pope,  Clement  VII.,  accepted  the  gift  of  the  city,  and  by 
a  letter  or  charter,  directed  to  his  beloved  sons, the  priors,  gonfa 
lonier,  and  people  of  the  city  of  Pistoia,  sent  his  pontifical  com 
missary  to  take  possession.  The  Panciatichi  had  now  extermi 
nated  the  Cancellieri,  and  obtained  the  power  of  governing ;  but 
it  was  at  the  expense  of  subjecting  both  themselves  and  their 
country  to  a  foreign  power  and  another  rival  family. 

Charles  V.,  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  1530,  constituted 
Alexander  de'  Medici  governor,  not  only  of  Florence,  but  of  all 
Tuscany,  to  the  extreme  joy  and  satisfaction  of  Clement  VII. 
Thus  pope  and  emperor,  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  Bianchi  and 
Neri,  Panciatichi  and  Cancellieri,  were  at  last  all  brought  to 
unite,  as  all  such  constitutions  of  government  ever  have  united, 
at  last,  in  a  government  of  all  authority  in  one  centre,  but  that 
centre  a  worthless,  however  artful,  despot. 

"  The  Pistoians  were  in  hopes,  that  at  least  under  an  absolute 
prince  they  might  enjoy  a  little  tranquillity ;  but  in  1531  the 
usual  disgusts  between  the  two  factions  of  Panciatichi  and  Can 
cellieri  began  to  spring  up.  Although  the  former,  by  the  par 
tiality  of  the  house  of  Medici,  were  indulged  in  all  their  caprices, 
yet  finding  themselves  now  increasing  in  strength,  nothing  would 
satisfy  them  but  the  total  expulsion  from  the  city,  and  the  com 
plete  destruction,  of  all  that  belonged  to  the  Cancellieri.  Tu 
mults  and  slaughter  arose,  and  no  man  had  the  knowledge  or 
the  will  to  provide  a  remedy. 

"  Alexander  de'  Medici  took  possession  of  his  principality  in 
Florence ;  great  rejoicings  were  made  in  Pistoia,  and  four  am 
bassadors  sent  to  present  the  congratulations  of  their  city,  and 
recommend  it  as  having  been  always  faithful  lovers  of  his  family. 
The  forty-eight  senators,  instituted  in  Florence  this  year  under 
Alexander,  pacified  the  two  factions  of  Panciatichi  and  Cancel 
lieri,  and  those  persons  and  families  who  remained  of  the  latter 
faction  returned  to  the  city,  to  the  joy  of  all. 

"  Alexander  distinguished  Pistoia  from  all  other  places  under 
his  dominion,  for  its  great  affection  and  sweet  love  to  his  family, 
by  giving  orders  that  all  the  business  of  Pistoia  should  be  ad 
dressed  immediately  to  himself  in  person. 

"  Charles  V.,  having  ascertained  the  untruth  of  the  accusa- 


416  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

* 

tions  of  tyranny  brought  against  Alexander  de'  Medici  by  the 
Florentine  exiles,  made  a  visit  to  Pistoia,  where  he  was  received 
and  entertained  in  the  public  palace. 

"  Alexander  took  it  into  his  head  that  commissaries  and 
governors  were  destructive  to  a  state,  and  therefore  abolishing 
the  office,  he  disarmed  the  inhabitants  as  inclined  to  tumults, 
and  appointed  ten  noble  Pistoians  to  govern  their  city.  On  the 
sixth  of  January,  1536,  Alexander  was  assassinated  by  Lorenzo, 
and  Cosimo  succeeded.  When  the  news  of  this  assassination 
arrived  in  Pistoia,  the  heads  of  the  Panciatichi  party  assembled, 
and,  after  mature  deliberation,  concluded  that  the  present  was  a 
convenient  opportunity  for  destroying  totally  all  remnants  of  the 
Cancellieri  party.  To  this  purpose  they  excited  an  insurrection 
of  all  their  factionaries,  under  color  of  maintaining  the  city  of 
Pistoia  in  its  devotion  to  the  house  of  Medici.  They  made 
leaders  of  Gio.  Cellesi  and  some  others,  and  with  a  great  multi 
tude  scoured  the  city,  and  in  a  very  short  time  assassinated 
fifteen.  Many  others,  hoping  to  secure  themselves,  took  post  in 
the  fortresses,  but,  betrayed  by  the  commanders,  who  let  in  the 
Panciatichi,  they  were  miserably  deprived  of  their  lives.  The 
partisans  of  the  Cancellieri,  seeing  that  they  could  not  resist  the 
fierce  assaults  of  the  contrary  faction,  went  to  hide  themselves, 
some  in  the  towns,  some  in  the  monasteries,  and  others  in  sub 
terraneous  places  ;  others  went  out  of  the  city,  found  a  leader, 
and  hazarded  a  battle  with  their  enemies,  in  which  many  were 
killed,  and  others  afterwards  burnt  in  steeples.  Many,  who  had 
foreseen  such  an  event,  had  before  retired  to  Montale  and  Mon- 
temurlo,  places  of  their  faction ;  so  that  the  Panciatichi  remain 
ing  masters  without  control  in  Pistoia,  sacked,  burnt,  and 
destroyed  ah1  the  houses,  shops,  and  stores,  which  remained  of 
the  contrary  party  in  the  city. 

Cosimo  I.  had  ascended  the  throne  of  Tuscany,  and  ambassa 
dors  were  sent  from  Pistoia  to  congratulate  him.  At  the  same 
time  the  factionaries  of  the  Cancellieri,  who  had  taken  refuge 
in  Montale,  constituting  as  their  leader  the  Captain  Guidotto 
Pazzaglia,  their  compatriot,  and  a  head  of  the  Cancellieri  fac 
tion,  who,  now  aged  and  weakened  by  many  military  fatigues, 
had  retired  to  his  estate  called  the  House  in  the  Wood,*  fortified 

*  La  Casa  al  Bosco. 


PISTOIA.  417 

by  a  thick  and  high  wall,  and  defended  by  a  high  and  strong 
tower,  entreated  him  to  engage  in  their  defence,  and  obstruct  the 
approaches  of  the  Panciatichi.  Pazzaglia  took  under  his  com 
mand  all  the  factionaries  of  his  party,  and,  by  a  secret  cor 
respondence  which  he  had  with  Philip  Strozzi,  increased  his 
numbers  to  four  hundred  men,  whom  he  quartered  in  his  own 
habitation.  From  this  post  they  took  the  license  to  go  out  fre 
quently  to  the  annoyance  of  the  Panciatichi,  and  gave  them 
much  disturbance  and  many  apprehensions.  The  Panciatichi, 
to  make  a  diversion  and  a  division  of  the  forces  of  the  opposite 
party,  which  every  day  increased  in  power,  went  and  commenced 
a  cruel  warfare  with  the  Cancellieri  of  Cavinana.  These  were 
made  uneasy,  and  retired  to  their  steeples,  where  they  made  a 
brave  defence.  At  this  time  the  commissary  took  the  resolution 
of  bridling  the  parties  by  authority  and  with  rigor ;  but  the  Panci 
atichi,  who  were  more  than  a  thousand  men  in  number,  in  con 
tempt  of  justice,  and  sparing  neither  age,  nor  condition,  nor  sex, 
executed  in  a  short  time  a  cruel  vengeance  on  their  adversaries 
by  fire  and  sword ;  and  going  on  every  day  increasing  in  ferocity, 
they  increased  their  murders,  rapines,  and  fires,  till  they  reduced 
Cavinana,  St.  Marcello,  Crespole,  Calamecca,  Lanciole,  Pupillio, 
and  other  places,  to  spectacles  of  desolation.  Many  of  the 
Cancellieri,  perceiving  that  fortune  was  not  favorable  to  them, 
retired  to  the  parish  church  of  Cutigliano,  and  there  fortified, 
stood  upon  their  defence,  without  losing  their  presence  of  mind, 
waiting  from  the  brave  Captain  Luca  Giacomelli  some  conve 
nient  succor,  by  which  they  might  once  more  attempt  an  attack 
upon  the  rear  of  the  Panciatichi,  who,  to  increase  their  power 
both  in  numbers  and  situation,  had  taken  a  post  very  near  them. 
These  disorders  were  very  displeasing  to  the  Duke  Cosimo  de' 
Medici,  and  he  took  great  pains,  by  means  of  his  commissary, 
to  restore  quiet  to  the  Cancellieri,  to  which  the  Panciatichi  at 
length  consented.  Nevertheless  the  church  was  scarcely  opened, 
when  they  burst  into  such  a  furious  rage,  that  they  fell  upon 
every  one  of  the  Cancellieri,  and  cut  them  to  pieces.  Cosimo 
was  not  discouraged,  even  by  this  outrage,  from  using  other 
means  to  restore  quiet  to  Pistoia,  and  at  last  reduced  some  part 
of  it  to  good  order.  But  the  faction  of  the  Panciatichi,  having 
no  longer  any  of  the  Cancellieri  on  whom  to  vent  their  rage, 
turned  all  their  hatred  and  indignation  against  one  another. 

A  2 


418  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

The  faction  became  divided  into  two,  which  rushed  into  such 
persecutions  of  each  other,  that  innumerable  quarrels  and  mur 
ders  succeeded.  The  example  was  followed  among  their  con 
nections  in  Florence,  which  gave  occasion  to  the  rettori  of  that 
city,  who  dreaded  greater  disorders,  to  draw  the  two  parties  to  a 
truce. 

"  At  the  same  time  the  Duke  Cosimo  was  exactly  informed, 
that  the  Captain  Pazzaglia  received  daily  additions  to  the  num 
bers  in  his  house ;  and  that  by  the  assistance  of  Philip  Strozzi, 
and  the  other  exiles,  many  were  induced  daily  to  go  into  his 
service,  and  the  terror  had  of  this  great  captain  was  thus  in 
creased.  Desirous  of  providing  against  every  sinister  event, 
which  he  foresaw  might  occur,  not  only  from  the  great  number 
of  men  who  were  assembled  at  the  House  in  the  Wood,  but 
from  the  thousands  of  men  which  Pazzaglia  at  the  sound  of  a 
bell  was  able  to  raise,  the  duke,  after  having  in  vain  attempted 
to  gain  him  by  means  of  some  friends,  sent  Otto  da  Montauto, 
with  a  thousand  infantry,  to  attack  the  House  in  the  Wood,  and 
make  prisoners  of  its  garrison. 

Montauto  by  forced  marches  sat  down  before  the  place,  but 
he  was  early  discovered  by  Pazzaglia,  who,  always  vigilant,  saw 
every  thing  and  thought  of  every  danger,  and  was  fiercely  re 
pulsed.  Montauto,  perceiving  the  enterprise  to  be  difficult  which 
he  had  thought  so  easy,  sent  to  his  brother  Frederick,  who  com 
manded  the  guards  in  Pistoia,  for  immediate  succor.  The 
prompt  arrival  of  this  aid  alarmed  Pazzaglia,  who,  finding  him 
self  besieged  by  a  great  number  of  soldiers,  and  not  hearing 
the  bell  of  Montale,  which  he  had  ordered  one  of  his  officers  to 
ring,  to  assemble  the  assistance  he  expected  from  that  and  other 
places,  ventured  out  of  his  habitation,  clothed  and  armed  like 
a  soldier,  and  with  a  joyful  countenance  went  to  meet  his  be 
sieger,  and  demanding  safety  for  himself  and  his  soldiers,  put 
himself  into  his  hands,  Montauto  received  Pazzaglia  with  a 
smiling  countenance,  and  knowing  him  to  be  humane,  generous, 
and  polite,  he  knew  not  how  to  refuse  his  demand.  They  both 
entered  the  House  in  the  Wood,  where  they  refreshed  them 
selves  so  splendidly,  that  Montauto,  admiring  still  more  the 
greatness  of  soul  of  Pazzaglia,  could  not  without  tears  conduct 
him  to  the  presence  of  the  duke.  Cosimo  had  enough  of  policy 
as  well  as  generosity  to  receive  him  like  an  intimate  and  confi- 


PISTOIA.  419 

dential  friend.  He  took  him  to  his  most  private  consultations, 
and  decided  on  no  affair  of  state  without  his  advice.  The  duke, 
perceiving  that  the  ten  noble  Pistoians,  assigned  to  govern  the 
city,  had  not  fulfilled  the  obligations  enjoined  upon  them,  or 
preserved  good  order,  restored  the  use  of  the  ancient  offices 
of  podesta  and  commissary.  He  promoted  to  these  offices  men 
of  moderation  as  well  as  of  spirit,  and  thought  by  their  means 
to  remedy  all  disorders ;  but  there  still  remained  enough  of  the 
citizens  inclined  to  quarrel,  to  keep  the  city  in  tumults,  and  to 
degrade  all  justice. 

"Niccolo  Bracciolini  had  insinuated  himself  into  favor  with 
the  duke,  by  having  revealed  to  him  a  conspiracy  of  the  Salviati, 
Ridolfi,  Strozzi,  and  Valori,  and  was  appointed  to  the  command 
of  certain  companies  of  infantry  which  were  in  garrison  there. 
This  officer,  recollecting  that  Francesco  Brunozzi  had  been 
averse  to  include  him  in  the  last  truce  made  between  the  fac 
tions  by  the  mediation  of  the  Florentines,  conceived  the  design 
of  taking  bitter  revenge  of  all  the  Brunozzi  family.  For  this 
purpose  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  adherents,  collected 
a  considerable  body  of  armed  men,  besides  those  which  Gio. 
Cellesi  held  concealed  in  his  house,  ready  for  any  orders,  went 
through  the  city  in  search  of  Brunozzi,  and  having  found  him, 
deprived  him  of  his  life.  He  proceeded  to  set  fire  to  his  house, 
and  all  the  other  houses  of  the  family,  but  was  obliged  to 
get  possession  of  them  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  The  Bru 
nozzi  made  a  brave  defence,  but  were  inferior  in  numbers, 
and  three  sons  of  Francesco  were  left  dead,  and  the  rest  fled 
to  some  obscure  place.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  Bracciolini 
proceeded  to  the  country  houses  of  the  family,  with  a  sol 
diery  as  tyrannical  as  himself,  and  there  committed  all  ima 
ginable  cruelty,  burning  and  destroying  every  thing.  For  this 
cruel  revenge  he  was  afterwards  condemned  to  pay  to  the  surviving 
Brunozzi  only  two  thousand  five  hundred  ducats  for  damages. 

"At  the  same  time  many  exiles  from  Florence,  desirous  of 
deposing  from  the  throne  of  Tuscany  the  Duke  Cosimo  de' 
Medici,  in  order,  as  they  pretended,  to  set  their  country  at  liberty, 
collected  together  at  Mirandola  four  thousand  infantry,  and  three 
hundred  cavalry,  and  gave  the  command  of  them  to  Piero 
Strozzi,  who  took  for  his  colleague  Baccio  Valori,  and  came 
with  one  division  towards  Pistoia,  and  halting  at  Montemurlo, 


420  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

waited  for  the  rest  of  the  army.  The  party  of  the  Cancellieri,  who 
there  expected  them,  received  them  with  transports  of  joy;  and 
having  repaired  the  citadel,  and  furnished  the  castle  with  every 
necessary,  they  all,  being  fifteen  hundred  men  in  number,  thought 
of  nothing  else  but  doing  infinite  mischief  to  the  party  of  the 
Panciatichi.  They  burned  Satornana,  Valdibura,  Uzzo,  and 
Capo  di  Strada,  carrying  off  from  all  a  rich  booty.  Taking  no 
account  of  the  government  of  Florence,  the  Cancellieri  made  every 
effort  to  reenter  Pistoia,  and  the  exiles  from  Florence  had  no 
other  view  than  to  deliver  their  country  from  the  government  of 
the  Medici ;  so  that  all  were  agreed  to  assemble  men,  provide 
arms,  and  collect  money,  that  they  might  be  able  by  force  to 
wrest  the  command  from  the  Duke  Cosimo.  That  sovereign, 
informed  of  this,  and  that  those  in  rebellion  against  him  were 
fortified  with  much  care,  every  day  increased  in  force,  and  did 
great  damage,  ordered  Alexander  Vitelli,  Otto  da  Montauto, 
and  Piero  Pipicciano,  that  they  should  depart  in  the  night  from 
Florence  with  their  troops,  three  thousand  Spaniards,  and  two 
regiments  of  Germans,  and  go  to  the  assault  of  Montemurlo ; 
and  that  the  force  of  the  enemy  might  be  diverted  and  disunited, 
he  ordered  the  captain  Frederick  da  Montauto,  then  in  Pistoia,  to 
unite  the  force  of  his  companies  with  those  of  the  party  of  the 
Panciatichi;  and  the  same  night,  with  cries  and  fires,  spread 
terror  in  the  neighborhood  of  Montemurlo,  that  the  party  of  the 
Cancellieri  might  be  necessitated  to  abandon  it.  The  party  of 
the  Panciatichi,  adhering  in  all  things  to  the  will  of  the  duke, 
united  with  the  forces  of  Frederick  da  Montauto,  and  in  a  dark 
night  set  in  an  uproar  the  country  of  Alliana,  and  from  thence 
went  to  burn  the  houses  of  the  abbey  of  Pacciana.  Setting 
fire  to  a  multitude  of  ricks  of  hay  and  stacks  of  corn  belonging 
to  the  common  people,  they  constrained  the  Captain  Bati  Ros- 
pigliosi,  the  Captain  Francesco  Gatteschi,  the  Captain  Francesco 
Arferuoli,  the  Captain  Luca  Giacomelli,  with  many  others  of  the 
exiles,  to  abandon  Montemurlo  and  the  neighboring  places,  to  go 
and  succor  their  factionaries  of  the  abbey  at  Pacciana.  A 
severe  and  obstinate  battle  ensued,  in  which,  in  the  end,  the 
Panciatichi  were  superior,  with  the  death  of  sixty  persons  of 
both  parties,  among  whom  were  numbered  the  Captain  Mattana, 
with  five  soldiers  of  Cutigliano,  who  were  enough  to  put  in 
doubt  the  victory.  The  head  of  Mattana  was  carried  to  Pistoia, 


PISTOIA.  421 

and,  amidst  the  exultations  and  rejoicings  of  his  adversaries, 
carried  to  the  piazza  as  a  spectacle  to  all.  This  detachment  of 
the  exiles  being  at  break  of  day,  the  first  of  August,  1537, 
defeated,  Vitelli  and  Montauto,  knowing  that  the  principal  heads 
of  the  rebels  were  in  the  citadel,  went  to  the  attack  of  Monte- 
murlo,  and  finding  it  in  all  parts  ill  manned,  they  animated  their 
people,  and  assaulted  the  fortress,  which,  after  a  resistance  of 
five  hours,  was  carried.  Pietro  Strozzi,  attempting  to  make  his 
escape,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  besiegers ;  a  thousand  men  of 
both  parties  were  slain,  and  Philip  Strozzi,  Baccio  Valori,  Fran 
cesco  degli  Albizzi,  and  many  others,  were  conducted  prisoners 
to  Florence,  where,  as  rebels  both  to  the  state  and  the  empire, 
they  were  put  to  death.  This  was  the  establishment  and  the 
basis  of  the  grandeur  of  Cosimo  I.  de'  Medici,  who  afterwards, 
on  the  thirtieth  of  September,  obtained  a  most  ample  diploma 
from  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 

"  Upon  this  memorable  victory  the  Pistoians  congratulated 
the  duke  with  an  excess  of  joy  by  their  ambassadors ;  and  the 
party  of  the  Panciatichi,  who  had  rendered  all  possible  assist 
ance,  recollecting  that  the  Cancellieri  of  the  House  in  the  Wood 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  parish  church  of  Cutigliano,  when  that 
place  was  sacked  by  the  Captain  Vincenzo  di  Poggio,  and  the 
proud  towers  which  were  there  were  ruined  to  the  foundation, 
now  hastened  with  such  ferocity  to  the  assault  of  that  church, 
that,  after  a  long  and  good  defence,  the  besieged,  without  hope 
of  succor,  surrendered  at  discretion  to  their  enemies,  who,  unit 
ing  with  those  of  Valdibura,  of  Cireglio,  and  of  Uzzo,  their  ad 
herents  burned  more  than  thirteen  hundred  houses  of  the  Can 
cellieri,  in  the  towns  of  Bigiano,  the  abbey  of  Pacciana,  Chiaz- 
zano,  Satornana,  Calamecca,  Crespole,  and  Lanciole. 

"  The  emperor  preparing  in  Lombardy  for  battle  against  Fran 
cis  I.  King  of  France,  and  relying  on  the  valor  of  Pietro  Strozzi, 
general  of  the  Italian  infantry,  the  Pistoians  were  agitated  with 
fears,  and  made  great  preparations  for  defence. 

"  The  controversy  between  Pistoia  and  Lucca,  about  the  bound 
ary  between  them  near  Pupillio,  being  adjusted,  the  Duke  Co 
simo  was  desirous  of  establishing  the  peace  of  the  city ;  and  for 
this  object,  with  menaces  and  efficacious  admonitions,  he  did  not 
cease  to  press  the  obstinate  citizens  to  submit  to  a  regular  life, 
and  reduce  their  affairs  for  once  to  good  order  and  a  state  of 

VOL.  v.  36 


422  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

tranquillity  ;  but  as  the  Pistoians,  in  their  unbalanced  state,  had 
no  other  consolation  than  to  stand  immersed  in  dissensions, 
quarrels,  and  discords,  they  paid  no  attention  to  the  sovereign 
councils,  but  went  on,  more  and  more  boisterous,  wicked,  and  se 
ditious,  destroying  the  good  order  of  government,  reducing  every 
thing,  without  control,  to  the  advantage  of  their  private  interests 
and  the  wantonness  of  their  wild  caprices.*  The  indignation 
of  the  duke  was  at  last  excited  against  these  obstinate  brains, 
whom  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  tame,  by  taking  from  them  all 
the  honors,  public  offices,  and  revenues  of  the  city,  as  well  as 
the  institutions  of  charity,  and  to  shut  up  the  palace,  the  resi 
dence  of  the  supreme  magistrates.  With  this  view  he  elected 
four  commissaries  for  the  affairs  of  Pistoia,  and  gave  them  full 
authority  to  fulfil  his  determination.  All  this  was  ordained  and 
established  at  the  instigation  of  certain  citizens  of  Pistoia,  and 
all  the  efforts  of  the  people  were  made  idle ;  since,  by  the  tenor 
of  the  sovereign  command,  all  the  magistracies  and  offices  of 
the  city  were  suppressed,  and  the  administration  of  the  entire 
revenues  and  institutions  of  charity  was  consigned  to  Taddeo 
Guiducci  and  Christopher  Ranieri,  with  the  title  of  Prov editors 
General^  who  received  into  their  possession  all  the  movables 
of  the  public  palace ;  and  the  supreme  magistrates  who  had 
resided  in  it  were  dismissed.  Six  citizens  were  deputed,  with 
the  title  of  Proveditors  of  the  Commons,  to  whom  the  palace  was 
committed ;  these,  with  the  resident  commissaries,  and  not  other 
wise,  assembled  to  treat  of  the  affairs  of  their  city.  These  hav 
ing  held  the  office  a  certain  time,  it  was  permitted  to  the  Pisto 
ians  to  draw  six  subjects  from  a  purse  destined  to  that  use. 

"  But  the  duke 1  apprehending  that  these  new  regulations 
would  excite  insurrections,  sent  a  body  of  soldiers,  only  three 
hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  to  disarm  the  citizens,  and  rein 
in  the  seditious  and  the  wicked;  amplified  the  fortifications, 
and  furnished  them  with  every  necessary.  Many  of  the  Pi 
stoians  now  considered  themselves  as  slaves,  and  thought  their 
nobility  debased  by  the  privation  of  all  the  honors,  public  offices, 
and  revenues ;  they  thought  it  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of 

*  Sempre  piti  tumultuanti,  e  facinorosi,  e  sediziosi,  guastando  il  buon  ordine 
del  governo,  riducevano  quello,  senza  freno  ai  vantaggi  dei  propri  interessi,  e  dish 
ordinati  capricci. 

1  Chap,  xxxii.  p.  432. 


PISTOIA.  423 

their  blood  to  lead  a  life  so  obscure  and  inglorious ;  they  there 
fore  retired  from  the  city,  and  went  to  inhabit  in  other  places ; 
hence  the  city  was  in  danger  of  depopulation,  became  defective 
in  many  arts  of  convenience  and  necessity,  and  nothing  was 
heard  but  sighs,  groans,  and  lamentations.  The  few  inhabitants 
who  remained,  knowing  the  great  damage  which  had  resulted  to 
their  country  from  this  resolution  of  the  duke,  were  never  satis 
fied  with  venting  their  reproaches  and  curses  against  those  who 
had  advised  it ; "  and  they  would  have  attempted  more  such 
great  things  as  compose  the  whole  history  of  their  country,  if 
many  had  not  been  disheartened  by  the  rigor  of  the  new  govern 
ment. 

"All  the  soldiers  in  garrison  at  Pistoia  being,  in  obedience  to 
the  orders  of  the  sovereign,  gone,  with  all  other  persons  of  note, 
to  Florence,  to  make  their  honors  and  acclamations  on  the  happy 
marriage  of  the  Duke  Cosimo  with  Leonora,  the  daughter  of 
don  Peter  of  Toledo,  Marquis  of  Villa  Franca,  and  Viceroy  of 
Naples,  the  Cancellieri  esteemed  the  opportunity  convenient  to 
rise  and  take  vengeance  on  the  Panciatichi.  As  all  the  soldiers 
were  gone,  and  everybody  was  turned  to  Florence,  the  Cancel 
lieri  resolved  to  enter  the  city  in  the  night,  and  kill  all  the  Pan 
ciatichi,  without  pardoning  or  sparing  one,  that  there  might  not 
remain  the  least  memorial  of  them.  They  hired  people  from 
various  places,  of  every  quality,  and  some  of  the  most  brave, 
intrepid,  and  desperate ;  and  having  gained  over  to  their  party 
many  in  the  city,  that  they  might,  at  a  critical  moment,  open  the 
gates,  they  introduced,  in  small  numbers  at  a  time,  many  of  their 
most  desperate  men,  and  quartered  them,  in  perfect  secrecy,  in 
the  houses  of  their  adherents  and  partisans.  They  elected  for 
their  Captain  Giovanni  Tonti,  who  entered  the  service  in  the 
night  of  the  fifteenth  of  June,  put  in  order  more  than  four  hun 
dred  soldiers,  and  marched  with  them  to  the  gate  of  St.  Mark, 
at  Pistoia,  where  the  walls  were  lowest,  there  giving  the  concert 
ed  signal  to  those  within,  that  with  their  knowledge  he  might 
enter  the  city  unknown  to  their  enemies.  At  the  signal  of 
Tonti,  those  who  were  upon  the  walls  suddenly  let  down  one 
of  their  men,  with  orders  to  say  to  those  without,  that  they  had 
waited  four  hours,  and  because  day  approached,  many  had 
retired  to  their  houses  for  fear  of  a  discovery;  and  that  there 
fore  it  would  be  advisable  to  delay  the  enterprise  till  the  next 


424  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

night.  Hearing  this,  Tonti  sent  immediately  one  of  his  aids  to 
desire  those  upon  the  walls  not  to  depart,  and  instantly  consult 
ing  his  colleagues,  he  found  but  one  for  waiting  till  the  next 
night.  Transported  with  impatience,  Tonti  at  once  cried  out  to 
his  soldiers,  '  Follow  me  ;  now  is  the  time  to  show  our  courage ! ' 
and  placing  a  ladder  against  the  wall,  mounted  to  the  top,  from 
whence,  whilst  grasping  at  a  stone,  in  order  to  climb  over  the 
wall,  he  fell  with  it  headlong  into  the  ditch.  His  people,  hear 
ing  the  noise  of  his  fall,  but  not  seeing,  by  reason  of  the  dark 
ness,  what  had  happened,  suspected  that  they  were  discovered, 
and  that  Tonti  had  been  repulsed  by  the  contrary  party.  Those, 
therefore,  who  had  ascended  on  other  ladders  turned  back,  and 
gave  themselves  to  flight,  very  few  remaining  for  the  defence  of 
Tonti;  among  these,  the  most  spirited  and  the  most  faithful 
pressed  to  see  what  had  happened,  and  discovered  Tonti,  with 
one  thigh  broken,  half  dead  in  the  ditch ;  understanding  the 
truth  from  him,  they  placed  him  on  a  ladder,  and,  with  the  as 
sistance  of  his  brother,  carried  him  to  a  house  in  the  neighbor 
hood  as  a  place  of  security.  In  this  state  of  things,  Simon 
Gatteschi,  and  Philip  Ghelardini,  persons  of  great  zeal  and  acti 
vity,  prepared  to  carry  on  the  enterprise.  Confiding  much  in 
the  assistance  of  those  in  the  city,  they  hastened  early,  with 
thirty  followers,  to  the  gate  of  St.  Mark,  and  finding  it  open, 
entered  the  city,  and  marched  to  the  piazza.  As  many  of  the 
Panciatichi  as  they  found  they  killed,  which  raised  a  great 
uproar  in  the  city,  and  intimidated  the  people  so  much, -that 
all  retired  to  their  habitations.  The  heads  of  the  Panciatichi 
observing  that  the  rioters  were  very  few,  and  that  none  in  the 
city  gave  them  assistance,  took  courage,  and  making,  by  order 
of  the  commissary,  a  hasty  collection  of  men,  they  began  with 
these  to  pursue  the  others  with  so  much  spirit,  that  some  of 
them  fled  out  of  the  city,  went  towards  Cireglio  and  Cavinana, 
there  made  a  rich  prey,  and  escaped  into  Lombardy.  Others 
were  taken  and  severely  punished,  and  afterwards  all  the  accom 
plices  of  the  conspiracy  were  by  a  public  proclamation  declared 
rebels ;  thus  ended  the  tumult.  The  commissary  afterwards 
ordered  many  of  the  Cancellieri  party  to  be  arrested,  who  were 
about  fifty  in  number,  held  them  three  months  in  prison,  put 
some  of  them  to  the  torture,  by  which  he  discovered  the  truth 
of  the  fact,  and  then  set  all  at  liberty,  without  condemning  any. 


PISTOIA.  425 

"All  contradiction  and  opposition  being  suppressed,  and  the 
harvest  being  plentiful,  the  Pistoiaris  thought  no  felicity  superior 
to  theirs,  and  they  held  it  lawful  to  forget  the  past  by  im 
mersing  themselves  in  a  sea  of  pleasures,  by  the  allurements  of 
which  they  were  seduced  into  a  very  vicious  and  expensive  life. 

"  Cosimo  perceiving  that  the  privation  of  honors  and  offices 
had  decreased  the  population  of  the  city,  and  diminished  commerce 
and  the  revenue,  esteemed  it  his  interest,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
public,  that  the  city  should  be  restored  to  its  primitive  state. 
On  the  thirtieth  of  March,  1547,  he  made  a  concession  forever 
in  favor  of  the  Pistoians,  of  all  the  honors  and  public  offices, 
and  all  the  privileges,  which  were  established  in  the  year  1496, 
in  the  convention  with  the  Florentines.  The  purses  were  soon 
formed  of  the  usual  magistrates,  and  all  the  persons  worthy  of 
that  preeminence  and  those  honors  had  their  names  imborsed, 
and  the  individuals  were  drawn  with  universal  rejoicings. 

"  The  representation  of  the  faction  of  Cancellieri,  under  the 
name  of  Dormentoni,  and  that  of  the  Panciatichi,  under  that 
of  Risoluti,  made  by  some,  among  the  sports  and  shows  of  the 
Carnival,  with  habits  and  ornaments  proper  to  that  age,  through 
some  injurious  words  thrown  out  in  jest  among  them,  occasioned 
disorders  of  so  serious  a  nature,  that  there  was  great  danger  of 
reviving  the  ancient  animosities  and  insurrections ;  but  the  Duke 
Cosimo  caused  to  be  arrested  the  inventors  of  those  masque 
rades,  intimidated  their  followers,  and  restored  the  public  tran 
quillity  ;  and,  to  make  the  greater  impression  on  the  people,  and 
secure  their  quiet  for  the  future,  he  punished  the  prisoners  in  an 
exemplary  manner. 

"  The  government  continued  absolute1  in  the  family  of  Medici 
till  the  year  1737,  when,  upon  the  death  of  John  Gaston  I.,  the 
last  grand  duke  of  that  family,  without  issue,  the  family  became 
extinct.  Don  Carlos,  King  of  Naples,  in  his  own  name,  and 
Philip  V.  King  of  Spain,  not  only  in  his  own  name,  but  also  in 
the  name  of  the  infant  don  Philip,  and  don  Louis,  and  the  other 
sons  whom  he  might  have  by  the  Queen  of  Spain,  renounced  all 
right  and  pretence,  which  they  or  their  descendants  might  have 
to  the  succession  of  the  grand  dukedom  of  Tuscany,  and  trans 
ferred  all  such  rights,  actions,  or  pretences,  to  Francesco  di  Leo- 

1  Chap,  xxxviii.  p.  494. 
36* 


426  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

poldo,  Duke  of  Lorraine  and  Bar,  his  heirs  and  successors ;  and 
Pistoia  soon  swore  allegiance  to  the  new  sovereign." 

And  here  ends  another  most  splendid  example  of  the  blessings 
and  felicities  of  a  republic  without  three  orders  forming  a  mu 
tual  balance !  It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  excite  the  resentment, 
or  flatter  the  vanity,  of  any  individuals  or  families  in  America, 
by  mentioning  their  names;  but  if  you  begin  at  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  proceed  through  all  the  States  to  Georgia,  you  will  at 
once  be  able  to  fix  your  thoughts  upon  some  five  or  six  families 
in  each  state,  some  two  of  whom  will,  in  the  course  of  fifty 
years,  perhaps  of  five  (unless  they  are  restrained  by  an  independ 
ent  executive  power,  three  independent  branches  in  the  legisla 
ture,  and  an  independent  judicial  department,)  be  able  to  divide 
the  state  into  two  parties,  one  generally  at  the  head  of  the  gen 
tlemen,  the  other  of  the  simplemen,  tear  one  another  to  pieces, 
and  rend  the  vitals  of  their  country  with  as  ferocious  animosity,  as 
unrelenting  rancor  and  cruelty,  as  ever  actuated  the  Cancellieri 
and  the  Panciatichi  in  Pistoia.  And  it  will  not  be  the  fault  of 
these  individuals  or  families ;  they  will  not  be  able  to  avoid  it, 
let  their  talents  or  virtues  be  what  they  may ;  their  friends,  con 
nections,  and  dependents,  will  stimulate  and  urge  them  forward, 
by  every  provocation  of  flattery,  ridicule,  and  menaces,  until 
they  plunge  them  into  an  abyss,  out  of  which  they  can  never 
rise.  It  will  be  entirely  the  fault  of  the  constitution,  and  of  the 
people  who  will  not  now  adopt  a  good  one ;  it  will  be  the  mis 
fortune  of  those  individuals  and  families  as  much  as  of  the 
public ;  for  what  consolation  can  it  be  to  a  man,  to  think  that 
his  whole  life,  and  that  of  his  son  and  grandson,  must  be  spent 
in  unceasing  misery  and  warfare,  for  the  sake  only  of  a  possi 
bility  that  his  great  grandson  may  become  a  despot ! l 

1  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  the  mistake  which  has  been  here  commit 
ted  by  the  author  as  to  the  probable  course  of  things  in  the  United  States.  Nei 
ther  does  the  escape  from  the  danger  here  referred  to  seem  to  have  been  so  much 
due  to  the  establishment  of  the  form  which  he  advocates,  as  to  that  radical  equality 
of  condition  which  the  law  and  custom  of  equal  distribution  of  inheritances  every 
where  establishes.  Sixty  years  have  passed  away,  and  such  a  thing  as  family 
influence  has  not  as  yet  produced  the  smallest  perceptible  effect  upon  the  political 
movements  of  state  or  nation. 

A  highly  plausible,  if  not  entirely  sound  view  of  the  progress  of  government,  mak 
ing  the  regard  for  family  one  of  the  intermediate  stages  of  civilization,  is  given 
by  Dr.  Arnold  in  the  appendix  to  the  first  volume  of  his  edition  of  Thucydides. 

A  further  elucidation  of  the  author's  views  on  this  point  will  be  found  in  his  letters 
to  John  Taylor  of  Caroline,  now  for  the  first  time  published,  at  the  end  of  this  work. 


CHAPTER   EIGHTH. 


CREMONA. 


"CREMONA1  had  persevered  under  the  government  of  consuls 
until  1180,  when  she  changed  the  form  of  her  government, 
reducing  all  the  authority  of  the  consuls  to  one  person  alone, 
who,  from  the  supreme  power  which  was  given  him,  was  de 
nominated  a  podesta.  The  election  of  consuls  had  occasioned 
such  contests  among  the  principal  families  (as  none  could  be 
elected  to  that  dignity  who  were  not  citizens)  that  it  was  now 
ordained  by  law,  that  none  should  be  elected  to  the  office  of 
podesta  who  was  not  a  foreigner,  and  a  citizen  of  some  other 
city,  as  should  be  agreeable  to  the  council,  provided  he  was  not 
related  by  blood  to  any  of  the  electors,  had  no  real  estate  in  the 
city  or  country,  and  was  arrived  at  least  to  thirty-six  years  of 
age ;  and,  above  all  things,  they  sought  for  men  of  prudence 
and  most  eminent  reputation,  to  whom,  as  soon  as  they  were 
elected,  they  sent  letters  by  a  public  order,  praying  them  to 
accept  the  dignity  offered  them ;  and  on  the  day  when  they 
made  their  entry  into  the  city,  with  a  public  concourse  and 
acclamations,  they  were  solemnly  met  and  received  by  the  whole 
people.  They  carried  in  ceremony  the  ensigns  of  their  authority, 
the  furred  cap,  the  long  sword,  and  the  rod  or  sceptre.*  And 
because  for  the  most  part  they  were  men  of  military  talents, 
rather  than  skilful  in  the  laws,  they  conducted  with  them  judges 
expert  in  the  legal  science,  by  whose  means  they  tried  all  causes 
civil  and  criminal,  and  assembled  the  council  when  it  was 
necessary.  After  this  change  of  magistracy  from  consuls  to  a 
podesta,  which,  however,  was  of  short  duration  and  little  sta 
bility,  as  they  created  sometimes  a  podesta,  sometimes  consuls, 
and  at  other  times  both  together,  there  occurred  in  the  state  and 
republic  of  Cremona  many  and  very  great  disturbances. 

"  Cremona  in  1183,  sent  her  ambassadors  to  Placentia,  where 
all  the  ambassadors  of  the  other  cities  of  Lombardy,  the 

*  H  capello,  e  il  stocco,  e  la  verga,  6  scettro. 

1  DelP  historia  di  Cremona  d' Antonio  Campo,  Cavaliero,  pittore,  et  architetto 
Cremonense.  In  Milano,  1645.  Libro  secondo,  p.  26. 


428  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

March,  and  of  Romagna,  were  assembled  together  with  the 
ambassadors  of  the  emperor,  and  King  Henry  his  son,  in  May. 
At  this  assembly  it  was  concluded,  that  all  the  cities  should 
send  their  ambassadors  to  the  diet  of  Constance,  a  principal 
city  of  Germany,  to  establish  the  peace  negotiated  between  the 
emperor  and  the  cities.  On  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  1183,  was 
established,  ratified,  and  confirmed,  that  peace,  so  solemn  and  so 
celebrated,  which,  from  the  name  of  the  city  where  it  was  made, 
was  called  the  peace  of  Constance;  a  correct  copy  of  which 
treaty  is  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  book  of  Sigo- 
nius,  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy.* 

"  Such  was  the  instability  of  the  government,  that  the  city 
returned,  in  1190,  to  the  administration  of  consuls.  They  in 
the  next  year  elected  a  podesta  again,  who  led  them  out  to  war, 
but  was  unfortunate,  and  this  made  them  weary  of  a  podesta ; 
and  the  next  year  they  created  consuls,  and  consuls  were  annu 
ally  elected  until  1195,  when  they  returned  to  a  podesta." 

All  this  is  perfectly  natural;  the  people  were  distressed  by  the 
contest  of  the  principal  families  when  they  had  consuls,  and 
therefore  wished  to  have  a  foreigner  as  a  podesta  to  keep  them 
in  order.  The  principal  families,  however,  struggled  for  consuls, 
that  they  might  have  the  rule ;  and  one  party  prevailed  this 
year,  and  the  other  the  next. 

"  The  consuls,  in  1198,  to  supply  the  city  with  water,  dug  a 
well,  and  built  a  conduit  of  water,  which  was  afterwards  called 
the  Murmur,  from  the  complaints  of  the  people  against  the 
expense  of  it,  which  were  so  great,  that  they  rose  in  tumults, 
and  insisted  on  choosing  a  podesta.  Cremosino  Oldoino  was 
accordingly  appointed,  and  governed  jointly  with  the  consuls  to 
the  end  of  the  year." 

Any  one  may  pursue  at  his  leisure  the  particulars  of  the 
changes  from  consuls  to  podesta,  and  from  podesta  to  consuls, 
till  the  year  1209,  when,  upon  the  appointment  of  consuls,  there 
arose  discords  and  civil  seditions,  which  brought  the  republic  to 
the  brink  of  ruin. 

"  The  city  became  divided  as  it  were  into  two,  by  a  rivulet 
that  passes  through  it;1  on  one  side  it  was  called  the  New 

*  Muratori,  Annal  anno  1183. 

1  Imperoche  si  come  la  citta  in  due  parti  dal  fiumicello  Cremonella  vien  divi- 
ea,  cos!  si  divisero  anche  i  cittadini. 


CREMONA.  429 

City,  and  on  the  other  the  Old,  though  all  the  popular  men  of 
the  old  city  joined  with  the  new;  in  short,  the  division  was  be 
tween  the  gentlemen  and  the  populars1  at  bottom.  The  new 
city  arose  in  tumults,  and  were  joined  by  all  but  the  gentlemen 
in  the  old,  made  new  magistrates  and  governors,  and  congre 
gated  together  to  constitute  a  new  general  council  at  Sant' 
Agata. 

O 

"  1210.  The  old  city  and  the  new,  each,  made  its  podesta,  and 
many  quarrels  and  civil  wars  followed ;  and  the  hatred  between 
persons  and  parties  increasing,  as  if  they  had  not  been  born  in 
the  same  city,  but  had  been  most  cruel  enemies,  they  soaked  the 
bosom  of  their  common  mother  with  blood,  and  had  no  mercy 
on  her  houses  or  riches,  which  they  consumed  by  fire.  But 
with  much  pains  and  intercessions  of  the  bishop  a  peace  was 
made,  by  which  the  podesta  of  the  new  city  submitted  to  the 
podesta  of  the  old,  and  swore  obedience  to  him,  with  this  re 
servation,  however,  that  he  was  to  remain  podesta  of  the 
people. 

"  The  civil  war  was  renewed  in  1211,  between  the  citizens  of 
the  old  and  the  new  city.  The  two  factions  proceeded  to  a 
sharp  conflict,  and  after  having  killed  an  infinite  number  of 
citizens,  those  of  the  old  city  set  fire  to  the  houses  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  the  scene  of  action,  and  consumed  every  thing  in 
them.  The  year  before  Otho  had  been  excomrmmicated  by  In 
nocent,  the  pope,  and  deprived  of  the  empire,  and  Frederic 
Roger  was  elected  in  his  place ;  for  this  reason  the  Cremonese 
went  this  year  in  favor  of  the  Marquis  of  Este,  and  drove  out  of 
Ferrara  Uguccione  de'  Guarnesi,  who  was  podesta  there  in  the 
name  of  Otho." 

In  1212,  civil  discords  were  somewhat  appeased,  and  consuls 
were  appointed.  The  wars  between  Cremona,  and  Milan,  and 
Placentia,  may  be  read  by  those  who  are  curious,  but  are  not  to 
our  purpose.  They  lasted  till  1217,  in  the  beginning  of  which 
year  civil  discords  and  seditions  increased,  because  the  people 
could  not  agree  in  creating  the  magistrates ;  and  it  was  not  till 
after  a  long  delay,  and  the  interposition  of  the  pope,  with  apos 
tolical  exhortations  by  letter,  that  they  were  persuaded  to  lay 
aside  their  hatreds  and  discords,  so  far  as  to  appoint  a  podesta. 

1  "  i  popolari." 


430  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  In  1221,  the  most  terrible  discords  and  civil  wars,  between 
the  gentlemen1  and  the  common  people  in  Placentia,  were 
accommodated  for  a  time  under  the  mediation  of  Sozzo  Cog- 
lioni,  podesta  of  Cremona.  The  substance  of  the  peace,  to 
which  each  party  swore,  was  to  lay  aside  their  discords  and  con 
tentions,  and  forgive  the  injuries,  damages,  and  mischiefs,  mu 
tually  committed  and  received." 

But  of  what  avail  are  oaths  and  treaties,  which  the  nature  of 
man  and  the  form  of  the  government  will  not  permit  to  be 
observed  ? 

"  1222.  This  year  two  noble  citizens  of  Cremona  were  made, 
one  after  the  other,  podestas  of  Placentia. 

"In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1229,  the  discords  among  the 
citizens  prevailed  so  far,  that  they  created  consuls,  and  those 
only  for  six  months ;  and  this  year  there  was  a  confederacy  of 
Verona,  Modena,  and  Parma,  against  Cremona. 

"There  arose,  in  1232,  in  the  city  of  Cremona,  seditions  and 
civil  wars. 

"  1 233.  The  Cremonese  united  with  the  popular  party  in  Pla 
centia,  in  favor  of  whom  Uberto  Pallavicino,  from  Cremona, 
went  with  a  hundred  light-horse  to  oppose  the  noble  exiles. 

"1234.  The  Milanese  and  Brescians,  joining  the  noble  exiles 
from  Placentia,  went  with  a  powerful  army  against  Cremona, 
and  deformed  the  whole  country  with  blood  and  fire. 

"  In  the  year  1242,  there  began  to  take  root  in  Cremona  those 
abominable  and  pernicious  factions  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines, 
and  to  infect  it  to  such  a  degree,  as  occasioned  an  infinite  ex 
pense  of  the  blood  of  the  citizens,  an  inestimable  destruction  of 
wealth,  an  unspeakable  perdition  of  families,  and  a  most  melan 
choly  and  miserable  ruin  of  the  country." 

The  city  was,  in  1246,  divided  between  the  two  factions ;  but 
the  Ghibellines  had  the  majority,  and  obtained  the  appointment 
of  a  podesta.  This  year  the  Emperor  Frederic  was  excommu 
nicated  by  the  pope  and  council  at  Lyons,  in  France,  and 
Henry  Duke  of  Thuringia  was  elected. 

The  two  factions  daily  increased  in  violence.  The  old  city, 
that  is  the  gentlemen,  were  favorers  of  the  Ghibellines,  and 
adherents  of  Frederic,  the  schismatical  emperor;  and  the  new 

1  "  I  popolari  e  i  nobili." 


CREMONA.  431 

city,  that  is  the  common  people,  were  partisans  of  the  Guelphs, 
who  adhered  to  the  holy  see.  The  bloody  wars  occasioned  by 
this  division,  between  Frederic  and  Innocent,  and  their  respect 
ive  followers,  can  be  read  at  leisure,  and  may  cause  a  laugh  at 
the  terrible  disgrace  of  Cremona  in  the  loss  of  their  triumphal 
chariot,1  an  infamy  which  none  but  the  gentlemen  could  obli 
terate.  The  Marquis  Uberto  Pallavicino,  a  most  powerful  man, 
and  of  great  reputation,  but  a  zealous  Ghibelline  and  old-city- 
man,  was  appointed  podesta ;  he  fought  a  memorable  battle, 
made  two  thousand  prisoners,  retook  the  carroccio,  and  returned 
in  triumph  to  Cremona." 

Campo  begins  his  third  book  in  the  manner  of  Machiavel, 
with  deep,  grave,  and  formal  reflections,  as  if  a  diversity  of 
sentiments,  contradictory  principles,  inconsistent  interests,  and 
opposite  passions  among  the  citizens,  could  be  reconciled  and 
united  by  declamations  against  discord  and  panegyrics  upon 
unanimity,  without  a  balance,  in  a  government  possessed  of 
sufficient  force. 

According  to  him,  "disunion  of  the  citizens  is,  indeed,  the 
worst  evil  in  a  city ;  for  what  mortal  pestilence  can  bring  upon 
them  greater  damage  than  discord?  This  not  only  precipitates 
noble  and  illustrious  families  to  ruin,  but  exterminates  powerful 
and  famous  cities  ;  nor  is  there  any  principality  or  kingdom  so 
stable  or  well  founded  that  it  may  not  be  torn  up  by  factions." 

If  this  is  true,  it  is  still  an  argument  against  constituting  a 
city  in  such  a  manner  that  it  must  necessarily  be  destroyed  by 
factions. 

"  All  things  are  maintained  and  increased  by  concord,  and  go 
to  ruin  by  disunion;  union  brings  victory,  and  discord  defeat; 
enemies  are  easily  resisted  when  you  agree  among  yourselves; 
when  members  are  disunited  from  the  body,  the  person  loses 
both  strength  and  beauty.  When  Cyrus  divided  the  Euphrates 
into  three  hundred  rivulets,  a  child  might  ford  the  largest  of 
them,  though  his  favorite  had  been  drowned  in  attempting  the 
united  water.  Italy,  the  lady  and  the  queen  of  the  world,  after 
infinite  conflagrations,  sacks,  slaughters,  pillages,  subversions, 
and  ruins,  has  finally  been  degraded,  by  the  discord  of  her  sons, 
into  a  servant  and  a  handmaid." 

1  "  Carroccio" 


432  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

All  this  may  be  true ;  but  how  long  will  republicans  be  the 
dupes  of  their  own  simplicity!  how  long  will  they  depend  upon 
sermons,  prayers,  orations,  declamations,  in  honor  of  brotherly 
love,  and  against  discords,  when  they  know  that,  without  human 
means,  it  is  but  tempting  and  insulting  Providence,  to  depend 
upon  them  for  the  happiness  of  life,  or  the  liberty  of  society ! 

"  The  city  of  Cremona,  to  come  to  the  present  point,  by  its 
discord  and  divisions,  suffered  intolerable  evils,  and  ultimately 
lost  her  liberty,  falling  under  the  power  and  domination  of 
Uberto  Pallavicino ;  who,  taking  the  opportunity  from  the  con 
troversies,  which  went  on  every  day  increasing  among  citizens, 
disunited  and  divided  into  divers  factions  of  new  city  and  old, 
gentlemen  and  common  people,  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  of 
Capelletti,  of  Barbaras!,  and  of  Maltraversi,  in  the  year  1251, 
from  podesta,  made  himself  absolute  lord,  patron,  and  master, 
of  the  commonwealth,  by  the  assistance  of  the  Ghibellines,  who 
in  the  old  city  were  very  numerous  and  powerful. 

"  Sozzo  Vistarino,  a  principal  nobleman  of  the  city  of  Lodi, 
maintained,  as  a  guard  of  his  person,  a  company  of  soldiers 
from  Cremona;  but  the  whole  family  of  Vistarino  being  soon 
afterwards  banished  and  expelled  by  the  people  of  Lodi,  Pope 
Innocent  endeavored  to  negotiate  their  restoration.  But  the 
people  would  accept  of  no  conditions  of  peace  until  Milan  and 
Cremona  made  war  upon  them,  and  unitedly  compelled  them 
to  receive  the  Vistarini  into  their  city.  At  the  end  of  the  same 
year  the  Marquis  Pallavicino,  at  the  requisition  of  the  people  of 
Placentia  to  oppose  their  noble  exiles,  went,  with  many  of  Cre 
mona,  to  the  siege  of  Eivergaro,  to  which  those  nobles  had 
retired. 

"  The  Cremonians  about  Blvergaro.  in  1252,  compelled  the 
noble  exiles  of  Placentia  to  surrender,  and  that  castle  was 
destroyed,  with  some  other  great  places.  Pallavicino,  not  con 
tent  with  having  made  himself  master  of  Cremona,  or  rather  of 
the  old  city,  aspired  to  the  dominion  of  Placentia,  and  to  this 
end  gave  trouble  enough  to  the  podesta  of  that  city.  While 
Pallavicino  was  master  of  the  old  city,  his  rivals  Bosio  Doara, 
first,  and  Azzolino  of  the  same  family,  were  successively  made 
lords  of  the  new  city. 

"  Uberto  Pallavicino,  in  1253,  was  created  by  the  Placentians 
podesta  of  that  city ;  but  as  the  affairs  of  Cremona  were  in  a 


CREMONA.  433 

critical  and  fluctuating  posture,  he  left  a  vice-podesta  at  Pla- 
centia. 

"  The  Marquis  Pallavicino,  having  arranged  affairs  as  he  liked 
in  Cremona,  returned  to  Placentia  in  1254,  and,  by  favor  of  the 
Ghibellines,  was  created  perpetual  governor  and  lord  of  that  city. 

"  1256.  Uberto  Pallavicino,  with  the  Ghibellines  of  Cremona 
and  Placentia,  went  to  the  assistance  of  Ezzelino  of  Romagna, 
the  most -cruel  of  tyrants,  and  confederating  with  him  against 
the  Mantuans,  consigned  the  whole  territory  to  fire  and  sword, 
and  laid  siege  to  the  city  for  three  weeks,  and  would  have  taken 
it,  if  the  Marquis  of  Este,  and  the  Bolognese,  had  not  come  to 
its  relief. 

"  1258.  A  kind  of  triumvirate  was  formed  between  Ezzelino, 
Pallavicino,  and  Doara,  who  aspired  at  the  domination  of  Lom- 
bardy.  1259.  The  triumvirate  disagreed,  and  a  new  league  was 
formed  between  Pallavicino,  Doara,  and  Cremona,  on  the  one 
part,  with  Azzo,  Marquis  of  Este,  and  Ancona,  Louis,  Count  of 
Verona,  and  the  cities  of  Ferrara,  and  Padua,  on  the  other  part, 
against  Ezzelino." 

The  particulars  of  the  war,  and  the  success  of  Pallavicino 
against  Ezzelino,  the  conquest  of  Bresca,  and  the  subsequent 
persecutions  of  the  Guelph  party  in  that  kingdom,  may  be  omit 
ted;  but  in  the  year  1260,  the  rage  of  factions  and  seditions 
were  so  distressing  to  all  the  cities,  that  there  arose  a  new  spe 
cies  of  pilgrimage  and  penitence,  whose  object  was  to  restore 
peace  among  the  parties,  and  obtain  the  return  of  the  exiles  to 
their  proper  cities.  The  number  of  these  pious  and  charitable 
people  grew  to  be  prodigious  in  Tuscany,  Romagna,  and  Lom- 
bardy,  and  very  austere  were  their  penitences,  and  very  affect 
ing  their  cries  of  "  Mercy !  mercy !  " 

"  Pallavicino  was  alarmed,  and  prohibited,  under  severe  penal 
ties,  these  kind  of  pilgrimages  in  Cremona  and  Bresca,  because 
he  feared  they  would  prove  the  ruin  of  those  seditions  and  divi 
sions  by  which  he  maintained  the  domination  of  those  cities. 
He  grew  proud  and  insolent,  plundered  the  bishopric,  and  drove 
the  bishop  into  exile. 

"  1261.  Pallavicino  having  recovered  the  city  of  Placentia  by 
means  of  the  Ghibellines,  went,  with  a  noble  company  of  Cre- 
monians,  and  established  a  government,  making  podesta  Visconti 
Pallavicino,  a  son  of  one  of  his  brothers. 

VOL.  v.  37  B  2 


434  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

"  1263.  Gandione  Doara,  a  noble  Cremonese,  was,  in  the  name 
of  Pallavicino,  podesta  of  Placentia ;  but  the  Guelph  exiles  mak 
ing  an  insurrection,  he  was  driven  out  with  his  garrison.  Palla 
vicino  began  at  this  time  to  be  uncommonly  jealous  of  Bosio 
Doara. 

"  1264.  Pallavicino  fell  into  a  controversy  with  Philip  della 
Torre,  and  detained  in  Cremona  all  the  merchants  of  Milan, 
with  their  effects,  pretending  that  Philip  was  his  debtor,  for  hav 
ing  given  him  assistance,  with  his  Cremonese  soldiers,  to  reco 
ver  the  castle  of  Arona,  occupied  by  Otho  Visconti,  archbishop 
of  Milan. 

"  Pallavicino,  in  1266,  grew  odious,  and  the  factions  of  the 
Barbarasi,  as  well  as  the  Ghibellines,  had  plundered  the  church, 
so  that  the  city  was  laid  under  an  interdict;  and  the  pope's  nun 
cios  had  influence  enough  with  the  people  to  produce  a  revolu 
tion,  a  deposition  of  Pallavicino,  and  a  restoration  of  all  the 
exiles,  by  the  general  council. 

"  1267.  After  the  deposition  of  Pallavicino,  Bosio  Doara  occu 
pied  the  government  of  Cremona,  but  did  not  retain  it  long ; 
for,  upon  the  return  of  Amatino  de  gli  Amati,  the  proper  head 
of  the  contrary  faction,  from  exile,  Doara,  with  his  followers, 
was  driven  out  of  the  city ;  but  he  only  went  to  Placentia,  and 
there  held  the  dominion,  and  appointed  to  the  government  a 
podesta,  Gerardino  Doara,  a  relation. 

"  1269.  Uberto  Pallavicino  having  lost  the  lordship  of  the 
principal  cities  of  Lombardy,  died  miserably  in  Sisaligo,  his 
castle,  in  which  he  was  besieged  by  the  Parmesans  and  Pla- 
centians. 

"  1270.  Bosio  Doara,  with  the  Ghibelline  exiles  from  Cremona, 
went  in  support  of  Napoleon  della  Torre,  against  his  enemies  at 
Lodi.  This  year  they  began  in  Cremona  to  create  captains  of 
the  people. 

"  1273.  Pontio  Amato,  a  citizen  of  Cremona,  being  podesta 
of  Milan,  was  killed  in  a  battle  between  the  Torriani,  and  Otho 
Visconti,  Archbishop  of  Milan. 

"  1278.  The  Torriani  having  taken  Crema,  set  fire  to  it.  The 
Cremonese  of  the  Guelph  faction  gave  assistance  to  those  of 
Torre,  against  Otho  and  the  other  Visconti,  with  whom  was 
Bosio  Doara  of  the  Ghibelline  faction,  who  prepared  employ 
ment  enough  to  the  Torriani. 


CREMONA.  435 

"  1281.  The  Cremonese  and  Parmesans,  desirous  of  effacing 
the  memory  of  the  injuries  done  to  each  other  in  times  past, 
restored  their  respective  triumphal  chariots,  which  had,  in  former 
days,  been  taken.  Great  joy  was  discovered  upon  this  occasion, 
and  the  two  cities  entered  into  a  strict  confederation  with  the 
Modenese  and  Reggians,  and  the  Marquis  of  Este.  The  princi 
pal  article  of  this  league  was,  that  they  should  assist  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Lodi,  who  were  molested  by  the  Milanese,  who  favored 
the  party  of  the  Visconti,  of  which  the  Marquis  of  Monferrato 
was  captain.  Bosio  Doara,  and  Gabrino  di  Monza,  who  wrere 
also  of  the  faction  of  the  Visconti,  entered  into  Crema  with  four 
hundred  soldiers  on  horseback,  and  as  many  on  foot,  the  Guelphs 
having  fled. 

"  1282.  The  Torriani,  being  exiled  from  Lodi,  took  refuge  in 
Cremona,  and  at  the  same  time  Bosio  Doara,  sallying  out  from 
Crema,  took  by  stratagem  Soncino  and  Romanengo,  castles  in 
the  jurisdiction  of  Cremona.  The  Cremonese  of  the  Guelph 
faction,  then  dominant,  fearing  that  their  affairs  would  grow 
worse,  assembled  their  army,  and  called  a  diet  of  the  cities  their 
confederates.  The  ambassadors  therefore  of  Placentia,  Reggio, 
Parma,  Modena,  Brescia,  Bologna,  and  Ferrara,  assembled  at 
Cremona;  and  the  Marquis  of  Este,  wrote  that  he  would  come 
in  person.  Florence,  and  the  other  cities  of  Tuscany,  offered  to 
lend  their  aid ;  the  same  offer  was  made  by  John  Appiano,  pro 
curator  of  Romagna.  They  sent  also  a  noble  embassy  to  the 
pope,  to  inform  him  of  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Lombardy, 
and  in  how  much  danger  the  cities  affectionate  to  his  highness 
were.  Otho  Visconti  perceiving  these  movements,  entered  into 
a  closer  league  with  the  Marquis  of  Monferrato,  and  they,  col 
lecting  as  many  armed  men  as  they  could,  marched  out  with  the 
triumphal  chariot  of  Milan,  and  united  with  Bosio  Doara.  The 
Cremonese  conducted  their  army,  now  very  powerful  by  the 
additions  of  the  confederates,  partly  to  Castellione,  and  partly 
to  Paderno,  castles  of  Cremona;  and  while  the  two  armies  stood 
fronting  each  other,  they  began  to  treat  of  peace,  which  was 
finally  concluded,  by  means  of  the  ambassadors  of  Placentia 
and  Brescia.  The  conditions  of  this  peace  were,  that  all  the 
cities  should  expel  each  other's  exiles.  Otho  Visconti  easily 
complied  with  the  conditions  of  this  convention,  because  he  had 
already  conceived  no  small  jealousy  of  the  Marquis  of  Monfer- 


436  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

rato,  and  a  most  violent  hatred  against  Bosio  Doara,  who,  being 
excluded  from  this  confederation  and  peace,  and  having  too  much 
confidence  in  himself,  refused  to  surrender  Soncino  and  Roma- 
nengo.  The  Cremonese  therefore  called  another  diet,  who  sent 
an  army  and  expelled  him,  not  only  from  those  two  castles,  but 
from  Crema.  William  and  Ugolino  Rossi,  noble  and  most  pow 
erful  citizens  of  Parma,  having  contracted  marriage,  the  first  with 
Donella  Carrara,  of  the  signori  of  Padua,  and  the  other  with 
Elena  Cavalcabo  of  the  family  of  the  Marquis  of  Viadana,  these 
cities  had  made  peace,  and  were  full  of  rejoicings  on  the  union. 

"1285.  William,  Marquis  of  Monferrato,  having  made  war 
upon  Otho  Visconti,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  the  Cremonese  sent 
some  companies  of  soldiers  to  his  assistance.  At  this  time  the 
triumphal  chariot  began  to  be  disused,  as  very  inconvenient  in 
battle ;  they  retained  only  the  general  standard  in  white,  with  a 
red  cross,  to  which  Otho,  who  was  the  first  not  to  use  it,  added 
the  image  of  St.  Ambrose. 

"A  peace  was  concluded,  in  1286,  between  the  Visconti,  the 
archbishop,  and  the  exiles  of  Milan.  The  numerous  family  of 
Sommi  had  a  confirmation  of  certain  rights,  anciently  granted 
to  the  family  by  the  Bishop  of  Cremona. 

"  A  new  confederation  was  formed,  in  1288,  between  Otho 
Visconti,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  and  the  cities  of  Cremona,  Pavia, 
Placentia,  Brescia,  Genoa,  and  Asto,  against  the  Marquis  of  Mon 
ferrato  ;  but  the  marquis,  having  made  himself  sovereign  lord  of 
Pavia,  a  new  diet  was  assembled  at  Cremona,  and  another  con 
federation  formed. 

"  Matthew  Visconti,  who  had  been  declared  imperial  vicar  of 
the  city  of  Milan,  by  Adolphus,  King  of  the  Romans,  called  a 
diet  in  that  city,  to  deliberate  on  a  war  against  the  Torriani. 
The  ambassadors  of  Cremona  were  there,  and  promised  to  send 
their  forces  to  the  aid  of  Visconti ;  but  the  Torriani  made  no 
movement,  and  Visconti  did  not  long  hesitate  to  break  with 
Cremona  and  Lodi ;  for,  impatient  to  enrich  his  followers,  he 
began  to  discover  an  intention  to  impose  taxes  on  those  cities. 
The  Torriani,  too,  began  to  complain,  and  were  supported  by  the 
patriarch  of  Aquileia  ;  the  Torriani  came  to  Cremona,  and  began 
to  prepare  war  against  Matthew  Visconti. 

"  1295.  The  Torriani  removed  from  Cremona  to  Lodi,  where 
they  met  many  of  their  friends,  and  soon  received  the  news  that 


CREMONA.  437 

Matthew  Visconti  had  taken  Castellione  from  the  Cremonese ; 
the  Torriani,  with  some  soldiers  from  Cremona  and  Lodi,  and  a 
gross  multitude  of  Milanese  exiles,  their  adherents,  went  to  meet 
Visconti,  but  were  attacked  and  routed  by  him. 

"  1299.  The  ambassadors  of  Cremona,  of  the  Marquis  of  Mon- 
ferrato,  of  the  Marquis  d'Este,  of  Novara,  of  Casale,  of  Bergamo, 
and  of  Vercelli,  all  congregated  at  Pavia,  and  made  a  league 
against  Matthew  Visconti.  The  Cremonese,  not  long  afterwards, 
with  the  Marquis  d'Este,  were  routed  by  Visconti.  This  year, 
however,  a  peace  was  concluded  between  Milan  and  Cremona, 
in  which  no  mention  is  made  of  Visconti. 

"A  league  was  made,  in  1302,  between  Cremona,  Placentia, 
and  Pavia,  and  they  chose  for  their  captain-general  Alberto 
Scotto,  then  Lord  of  Placentia ;  these  having  hired  a  good  body 
of  soldiers,  and  united  with  the  Torriani,  went  under  the  walls 
of  Milan.  Matthew  Visconti,  seeing  that  he  was  hated  by  his 
fellow-citizens,  went  out  of  Milan,  and  renounced  all  his  author 
ity  to  Scotto ;  and  while  they  were  treating  of  peace,  the  Torri 
ani  entered  Milan,  and  drove  off  Matthew  and  all  his  partisans. 
After  having  expelled  the  Visconti  from  Milan,  a  new  congress 
met  at  Placentia,  of  ambassadors  from  Cremona,  Milan,  Pavia, 
Lodi,  Como,  Novara,  Vercelli,  Tortona,  Crema,  Casale,  and  Ber 
gamo,  and  concluded  to  hire,  at  the  common  expense,  and  for 
the  common  defence,  a  thousand  horse  and  a  thousand  foot. 

"A  tumult  in  Parma,  in  1303,  was  occasioned  by  an  attempt 
of  Giberto  di  Correggio  to  restore  the  Parmesan  exiles.  Giacopo 
Cavalcabo,  Lord  of  Viadana,  Amato,  Persico,  and  Sommo,  all 
noble  citizens  of  Cremona,  and  old  friends  of  Correggio,  trans 
ported  themselves  to  Parma,  were  elected  arbitrators,  and  soon 
decided  the  controversy  in  favor  of  their  friend  Correggio.  This 
year  controversies  and  enmity  arose  between  the  Cremonese,  and 
Alberto  Scotto,  Lord  of  Placentia. 

"  There  was  a  diet  of  confederate  cities,  in  1304,  against  Al 
berto  Scotto.  A  powerful  army  was  collected,  and  the  Marquis 
of  Monferrato  and  the  Marquis  of  Saluzzo  were  created  cap 
tains  ;  and  having  passed  the  Po,  and  taken  many  castles  in  the 
neighborhood,  laid  siege  to  Placentia ;  but  the  Cremonians  and 
Lodians,  considering  the  danger  they  might  be  exposed  to,  if 
that  noble  and  powerful  city  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Marquis  of  Monferrato,  began  to  withdraw  their  troops.  They 
37* 


438  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

were  followed  by  those  of  Pavia,  and  the  others,  and  the  army 
was  dispersed,  and  Placentia  delivered  from  the  siege.  A  new 
league  was  made  against  Scotto,  the  head  of  which  was  Vis 
conti  Pallavicino ;  and  the  next  year  the  Torriani  made  them 
selves  masters  of  Placentia. 

"  1307.  Giacopo  Cavalcabo,  a  most  noble  citizen  of  Cremona, 
and  Lord  of  Viadana,  a  man  of  ingenuity  and  an  elevated  spirit, 
was  created  podesta  of  Milan.  The  Fulgosi,  Scotti,  and  Pala- 
strelli,  noble  families  of  Placentia,  with  the  assistance  of  William 
Cavalcabo  and  the  Cremonians,  expelled  Lando  and  Visconti 
Pallavicino  from  Placentia. 

"  1308.  Guido  della  Torre,  Lord  of  Milan,  made  Persico,  a 
noble  Cremonian,  podesta  of  that  city.  t  This  year  a  controversy 
arising  between  the  Parmesans  and  Giberto  di  Correggio,  the 
Rossi,  the  Lupi,  and  other  noble  exiles,  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
Cremona,  were  summoned  by  their  countrymen  to  return ;  and 
they  instantly  obeyed,  and  carried  with  them  the  assistance  of 
Tignaca  Pallavicino,  who  at  that  time  was  podesta  of  Cremona, 
and  the  Cremonian  soldiers,  and  having  driven  Correggio  from 
Parma,  Giacobo  Cavalcabo  was  created  podesta  of  that  city. 
A  confederation  was  also  made  between  Guido  della  Torre,  and 
the  city  of  Cremona,  to  which  Lodi,  Bergamo,  Placentia,  and 
Crema  acceded. 

"  1309.  Giuliano  Sommo,  a  noble  Cremonian,  was  made  po 
desta,  and  captain  of  the  commons  and  people  of  Placentia,  for 
months,  according  to  the  custom  of  those  times. 

"  Henry  VII.  the  Emperor  came,  at  the  end  of  1310,  into  Italy 
to  be  crowned,  and  he  called  together  all  the  Ghibellines  of  Lom- 
bardy,  among  whom  Matthew  Visconti  held  the  first  place.  At 
that  time  the  authority  and  influence  of  William  Cavalcabo, 
brother  of  Giacopo,  was  so  great  in  Cremona,  that  all  public 
affairs  were  administered  according  to  his  will;  but  as  these 
brothers  were  the  heads  of  the  Guelph  faction  they  were  little 
friendly  to  the  emperor. 

"  Cremona,  in  1311,  tasted  more  than  ever  the  bitter  fruits  of 
faction,  civil  discord,  and  unbalanced  government,  with  which, 
however,  it  had  been  vexed  and  distressed  for  many  years ;  it 
was  now,  besides  infinite  proscriptions  of  property  and  slaughter 
of  citizens,  upon  the  brink  of  total  ruin  from  Henry.  Fachetto, 
Marquis  of  Canossa,  had  been  sent  with  the  title  of  imperial 


CREMONA.  439 

vicar,  but  had  been  refused  and  expelled  by  the  Guelphs,  who 
then  had  the  domination  in  Cremona.  The  emperors  indigna 
tion  was  excited,  and  he  gave  orders  to  Matthew  Visconti  to  pass 
the  Adda,  and  assault  Cremona  with  an  army  of  Ghibellines, 
who,  collecting  together  from  every  quarter,  were  increased  to  a 
great  number.  The  emperor  himself,  with  the -empress  his  con 
sort,  departing  from  Milan,  removed  to  Lodi.  Gulielmo  Caval- 
cabo,  to  whom  the  absolute  dominion  of  Cremona  had  been 
given  by  the  Guelphs,  perceiving  such  formidable  preparations 
for  war,  knowing  his  own  city  to  be  nearly  divided  into  equal 
parties,  and  having  little  confidence  in  his  own  faction,  quitted 
the  city,  and  went  to  Viadana,  followed  by  the  Picenardi,  Sommi, 
and  Persichi,  with  many  others,  nobles  and  populars,  his  adher 
ents.  And  the  city  would  have  been  wholly  evacuated  and 
abandoned,  if  the  citizens  had  not  been  dissuaded  by  Sopra- 
monte  Amato,  who  went  into  the  middle  of  the  multitude,  ex 
horted  them  to  stay,  and  throw  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the 
emperor,  whom  he  painted  as  pious  and  clement,  and  offered 
himself  as  one  of  the  principal  intercessors.  The  people  being 
comforted  by  his  speech,  it  was  ordered  that  two  hundred  of  the 
principal  men  should  go  to  meet  Henry,  who,  hearing  of  the 
flight  of  Cavalcabo  and  his  adherents,  removed  towards  Cremona, 
and  was  already  arrived  at  Paderno,  eight  miles  distant  from 
that  city  ;  there  he  was  found  by  the  Cremonians,  who  had  been 
sent  with  Sopramonte  Amato;  and,  in  miserable  habits,  with 
their  heads  uncovered,  with  naked  feet,  and  cords  about  their 
necks,  when  they  came  before  the  emperor,  they  fell  upon  their 
knees,  and  cried  out,  '  Mercy ! '  (misericordia  !  )  and,  with  tears 
and  lamentations,  endeavored  "to  recommend  themselves  and 
their  country  to  the  clemency  of  the  conqueror.  Such  a  specta 
cle  of  misery  might  have  moved  to  compassion  the  heart  of 
cruelty  itself ;  it  had  not,  however,  the  force  to  move  in  the  small 
est  degree  to  mercy  the  most  inhuman  sou]  of  Henry,  who,  with 
a  cruelty  more  than  barbarous,  rolling  his  eyes  another  way,  that 
he  might  not  see  them,  commanded,  with  a  voice  of  ferocity,  that 
they  should  be  all  sent  to  prison ;  which  was  instantly  executed 
by  his  ministers,  and  they  were  soon  after  put  to  death. 

"  Henry  entered  Cremona,  assembled  the  council,  and  ordered 
that  the  walls  of  the  city  should  be  thrown  down.  This  order 
was  executed.  And  Henry  desired  to  have  the  houses  de- 


440  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

molished ;  but  at  the  prayer  of  some  of  his  lords  and  barons,  he 
was  diverted  from  this  malicious  purpose  ;  but  they  could  not 
hinder  many  from  being  burned  by  Cremonian  citizens,  who  had 
been  exiles  for  being  of  the  Ghibelline  faction,  and  who  sought 
every  cruel  method  of  revenge  for  the  injuries  they  had  received. 
The  city  was  therefore  filled  with  misery  ;  the  Germans  and 
Italians  all  robbed  -alike ;  and  nothing  was  heard  but  violence, 
murder,  rapine,  and  extortion.  The  most  rich  were  sure  to  be 
declared  guilty,  and  their  estates  to  be  confiscated.  At  last,  the 
emperor  came  to  the  public  palace,  and  caused  a  most  severe 
sentence  to  be  published,  in  which  he  condemned  the  Cremo- 
nians  to  pay  a  hundred  thousand  golden  florins,  confiscated  the 
public  revenue,  and  ordered  that  the  walls  and  bulwarks  of  the 
city  should  be  ruined,  and  the  ditches  filled  up.  These  hard 
conditions  were  accepted,  and  the  fulfilment  of  them  sworn  to 
by  Frederick  Artezaga,  syndic  of  the  commons  of  Cremona,  in 
whom  was  placed  the  government  of  the  faction  of  Ghibellines, 
favored  and  exalted  by  the  emperor,  who  left  one  of  his  vicars 
and  departed.  The  Guelphs,  thus  ill  treated,  now  concerted 
another  confederation,  and  called  in  to  their  aid  Robert,  King  of 
Apulia.  Into  this  league  all  the  cities  of  Romagna  and  Tus 
cany  entered.  The  principal  were  Florence,  Lucca,  and  Siena ; 
and  of  those  of  Lombardy,  Bologna,  Reggio,  and  Parma,  whose 
sovereign  lord  was  Giberto  di  Correggio.  The  Torriani  and  the 
Cavalcabos,  with  the  rest  of  the  Milanese  and  Cremonian  exiles, 
joined  the  confederacy  ;  and  all  these  united,  after  having  made 
themselves  masters  of  the  bridge  of  Dossolo  over  the  P6,  took 
also  Casalmaggiore,  driving  out  the  Ghibellines. 

William  Cavalcabo,  having  learned  that  John  Castiglione, 
Podesta  of  Cremona,  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  was  gone  with 
the  militia  to  Pozzobaronzo,  a  place  subject  to  the  Cremonians, 
in  which  were  some  Guelphs,  taking  advantage  of  this  opportu 
nity,  flew  with  wonderful  rapidity  to  Cremona,  and  entering  the 
city  by  the  gate  delta  Mosa,  arrived  without  opposition  to  the 
piazza,  where  he  was  encountered  by  Galeazzo  Visconti  and 
Manfredino  Pallavicino ;  but  these  not  being  able  to  sustain  the 
impetuosity  of  the  soldiers  of  Cavalcabo,  not  without  a  great 
slaughter  of  Ghibellines,  among  whom  Giacomo  Redenasco  was 
slain,  they  betook  themselves  to  flight,  and  Galeazzo  saved  him 
self  in  Crema.  Soon  afterwards,  as  an  insurrection  was  expected 


CREMONA.  441 

in  Cremona,  Giberto  di  Reggio  went  thither  from  Parma,  where 
he  was  received  with  tokens  of  the  greatest  joy  ;  and  having 
quieted  with  great  prudence  the  controversies,  he  established 
Cavalcabo  in  the  lordship  of  the  city,  making  Quirico  Sanvitale, 
his  son-in-law,  podesta.  The  inhabitants  of  Soncino  having  also 
expelled  the  imperial  governor,  surrendered  to  Cavalcabo,  who, 
fearing  that  the  enemy  would  encamp  at  that  post,  suddenly 
went  thither  with  Venturino  Benzone,  head  of  the  Guelphs  of 
Crerna,  and  with  Venturino  Fondulo,  one  of  the  principal  men 
of  Soncino.  The  Barbuoi  and  other  families  of  Soncino,  of  the 
opposite  faction,  having  conveyed  intelligence  of  this  to  the 
emperor,  he  gave  Soncino  to  the  Count  Guarnero,  his  general  in 
Lombardy,  who  went  and  laid  siege  to  the  place.  There  were 
in  Soncino,  besides  the  Terrazzani,  the  Guelphs  of  Cremona, 
Crema,  and  Bergamo ;  and  with  the  Count  Guarnero,  besides 
the  German  troops,  were  the  Ghibellines  of  Cremona,  Bergamo, 
and  Crema.  The  inhabitants  of  Soncino  defended  themselves 
on  the  first  assault  with  great  activity,  encouraged  by  the  valor 
of  Cavalcabo,  Benzone,  and  Fondulo ;  but,  seized  with  a  panic, 
upon  some  advantage  gained  by  Galeazzo  Visconti,  the  soldiers, 
who  came  to  their  assistance  from  Cremona,  shamefully  aban 
doned  their  defence,  and  retreated  into  the  houses.  Cavalcabo, 
seeing  such  cowardice  or  treachery,  consulted  with  Benzone  to 
get  out  of  that  place  as  soon  as  possible.  Collecting  their  sol 
diers  in  a  compact  body,  they  rushed  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy, 
combating  with  wonderful  intrepidity ;  but  Cavalcabo  being 
killed,  and  Benzone  and  Venturino  Fondulo,  with  his  two  sons, 
made  prisoners,  the  Ghibellines  remained  victorious.  Benzone, 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Ghibellines  of  Crema,  was  misera 
bly  assassinated ;  and  Fondulo,  with  his  two  sons,  by  the  orders 
of  Guarnero,  was  hanged  before  the  gate  of  Soncino.  The 
news  of  this  defeat  filled  Cremona  with  terror  and  confusion. 
But  Giberto  Correggio,  with  a  company  of  Parmesans  coming 
in,  their  fears  subsided,  and  the  enemy  having  intelligence  of  this 
succor,  had  not  the  courage  to  approach  the  walls.  The  Cre- 
monians,  to  recompense  the  benefit  received  from  Correggio, 
gave  him  the  government  of  the  city  for  five  years.  The  Guelphs 
took  Castellione,  in  which  was  Manfredino  Pallavicino,  who  was 
made  prisoner.  And  Castelnovo,  the  mouth  of  the  Adda  to  the 
Guelphs,  was  taken  by  the  Ghibellines. 


442  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  Passarino  della  Torre  had  the  government  of  Cremona  in 
1313,  with  the  title  of  Vicar  of  Robert,  King  of  Apulia. 

"  Giacopo  Cavalcabo,  Marquis  of  Viadana,  was,  in  1315,  by 
the  common  consent  of  the  people,  elected  to  the  government  of 
Cremona.  Ponzino  de'  Ponzoni,  his  brother-in-law,  whether 
from  private  envy  or  republican  jealousy,  was  enraged  beyond 
all  measure  at  this,  and  he  stirred  up  insurrections  against  Ca 
valcabo,  many  other  noble  families,  the  Ponzoni,  the  Guazoni, 
the  Amati,  and  the  Picenardi,  who  went  out  of  Cremona,  and 
made  a  league  with  the  Visconti,  and  occasioned  much  mischief 
and  ruin  to  their  country,  against  which  they  took  up  arms. 

"  Ponzino  Ponzone  and  all  his  adherents,  having  made  a 
league  with  Cane  della  Scala,  Lord  of  Verona,  and  with  Passa 
rino  Buona-cossi,  Lord  of  Mantua,  came  to  Cremona,  and 
laid  siege  to  it ;  but  by  the  valor  of  those  within  they  were 
repulsed ;  yet  they  did  much  damage  in  the  territory.  A  peace, 
or  the  appearance  of  a  peace,  between  those  in  the  city  and  the 
exiles,  was  then  made  ;  and,  by  common  consent,  Egidiolo  Pipe- 
raro  was  deputed  to  the  government  of  the  city,  with  the  title 
of  Abbate  of  the  People ;  and  then  the  Ponzoni,  with  their  par 
tisans,  returned  to  the  city. 

"  The  whole  city,  in  1317,  arose  in  arms,  excited  by  Giacopo 
and  Luigi  Cavalcabo,  and  Gregorio  Sommo,  and  others,  their 
partisans  of  the  Guelph  faction,  with  whom  were  the  Brusati, 
Lords  of  Brescia,  with  all  their  followers.  These  entering  the 
great  piazza  of  Cremona,  slew  Egidiolo  Piperaro,  who  had 
mounted  the  rostrum  to  still  the  tumult.  Leonard  and  Bac- 
canino  Picenardi,  though  one  of  them  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Louis  Cavalcabo,  were  both  assassinated;  the  Pedecani,  Ma- 
lombra,  Alemanni,  and  others  innumerable,  both  of  the  noble 
and  popular  families  of  the  Ghibelline  faction  were  murdered; 
and  the  whole  faction  was,  in  fact,  driven  out  of  the  city,  Pon 
zone  taking  his  flight  with  some  others  of  the  principal  citizens 
who  fled  with  him.  He  was  received  into  Soncino  by  Philip 
Barbuo,  and  soon  obtained  Castellione,  and  all  the  Guelphs  were 
driven  out  of  both  these  places.  Ponzone,  who  had  first  holden 
with  the  Guelph  party,  now  conjured  up  another  faction,  by  the 
name  of  the  Maltraversi,  of  whom  he  was  the  head,"  (for  every 
faction  had  its  podesta,  little  council,  and  great  council,  its  king, 
lords,  and  commons,)  "  and  in  a  short  time  made  himself  master 


CREMONA.  443 

of  almost  all  the  Cremonese  territories  in  the  country.  Finally, 
the  Ghibellines  and  Maltraversi  made  a  coalition,  and  constitut 
ing  Ponzino  their  head,  entered  into  close  alliance  with  Cane 
della  Scala,  Lord  of  Verona,  and  Passarino  Buonacossi,  Lord 
of  Mantua,  and  with  Matthew  Visconti,  Vicar- General  of  Milan. 
These  came,  therefore,  to  the  assistance  of  the  Ghibellines  and 
Maltraversi,  against  the  Guelphs,  in  Cremona,  Cane,  and  Passa 
rino,  with  their  people,  and  Matthew  sent  them  Luchino,  his 
son,  with  the  Milanese  cavalry  and  infantry,  with  whom  were 
some  companies  of  Pavians,  Placentians,  Parmesans,  Berga- 
mans,  and  others,  from  Coma,  Novara,  Vercelli,  Crema,  and 
Monferrato.  All  these  people,  uniting  together,  encamped 
against  Cremona.  The  siege  continued  twenty-eight  days, 
without  any  event  of  consequence,  excepting  their  depredations 
upon  the  territory  in  the  country,  and  destruction  of  all  the 
estates  of  the  Guelphs. 

"  1318.  Ponzone,  having  made  a  breach  in  the  wall,  entered 
the  city  with  his  Ghibellines  and  Maltraversi,  and  reached  the 
piazza  without  being  discovered.  The  Guelphs,  when  they  saw 
him,  were  astonished  and  fled,  and  with  them  Giacopo  Caval 
cabo  and  Gregorio  Sommo.  Ponzone  was  proclaimed  Lord  of 
Cremona  by  the  Ghibellines  and  Maltraversi.  At  the  same 
time,  the  partisans  of  Cavalcabo  took  Robecco,  and  went  to 
Olmeneta,  eight  miles  from  Cremona,  and  ruined  a  certain  tower 
of  the  Zucchelli,  in  which  was  Niccolo  Borgo,  with  some  others 
of  the  faction  of  Ponzone,  who,«upon  hearing  of  the  destruction 
of  his  friends,  went  with  a  body  of  soldiers  to  those  places,  and 
made  much  havoc  among  the  people  of  Cavalcabo. 

"  Giberto  Correggio,  captain-general  of  the  Guelph  league, 
with  Cavalcabo,  and  all  those  of  their  faction,  broke  down  the 
walls  of  the  city  in  1319,  entered,  and  by  force  of  arms  drove 
out  the  Ghibellines,  and  Ponzino  Ponzone,  with  his  league  of 
Guelph  Maltraversi. 

"  This  Ponzone  appears  to  have  joined  any  side,  as  his  circum 
stances  gave  him  opportunity ;  for  in  1321,  he  made  a  coalition 
with  Galeazzo  Visconti,  son  of  Matthew,  and  Lord  of  Placentia, 
entered,  with  the  Ghibelline  faction,  by  force  of  arms,  into  Cre 
mona,  and  drove  away  the  Cavalcabos,  with  all  the  real  Guelphs, 
their  partisans.  There  was  afterwards  published  a  proclamation, 
in  the  name  of  Galeazzo,  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  ah1,  of 


444  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

whatever  faction,  to  inhabit  the  city  of  Cremona,  excepting  the 
Cavalcabos,  and  certain  other  citizens,  suspected  of  having  con 
certed  a  plot  against  Galeazzo  and  his  partisans. 

"1324.  Alberto  Scotto,  of  Placentia,  head  of  the  Guelphs, 
took  the  castle  of  Malamorte,  which  was  on  the  bank  of  the  Po, 
directly  opposite  to  the  city  of  Cremona,  and  more  than  three 
hundred  Ghibellines  who  were  within  were  slain.  Raimondo 
Cardona  was  sent  by  the  pope,  John  XXIL,  with  a  powerful 
army,  to  the  assistance  of  the  Guelphs,  who,  assembling  all  of 
his  faction  in  Lombardy,  went  against  Galeazzo  Visconti,  and 
shutting  him  up  in  Milan,  laid  siege  to  it. 

"  1327.  Louis  IV.,  of  Bavaria,  set  up  an  anti-pope  against 
John. 

"  1329.  Louis  confirmed  to  the  Cremonians  all  the  privileges 
granted  to  them  by  his  predecessors. 

"  1330.  Guido  de  Camilla,  imperial  vicar,  had  the  government 
of  the  city,  and  a  truce  was  established  between  the  community 
of  Cremona  and  Gregory  de'  Sommi,  by  which  it  appears,  that 
Cremona  was  not  at  that  time  subjected  to  the  Visconti.  The 
city  was  governed  by  Ghibellines,  who  were  the  majority,  or  pre 
dominant  party ;  and  Gregory  Sommo  was  one  of  the  principal 
heads  of  the  Guelph  party. 

"  1335.  Azzo  Visconti,  son  of  Galeazzo,  having  made  a  peace 
with  the  Cremonians,  gave  them  the  dominion  of  Crema,  which, 
after  the  death  of  Pope  John,  had  subjected  itself  to  the  Vis 
conti.  This  year,  according  to  some  historians,  the  lordship  of 
Cremona  was  given  by  its  inhabitants  to  the  same  Azzo  Vis 
conti. 

"  1339.  Azzo  Visconti,  Lord  of  Cremona,  died  without  sons, 
and  to  him  succeeded  in  the  dominion  of  Milan  and  of  Cre 
mona,  Luchino  Visconti,  and  John  his  brother,  who,  from  Bishop 
of  Novara,  was  a  little  afterwards  made  Archbishop  of  Milan, 
so  that  he  became  in  that  city  lord  both  in  spiritual  and  temporal 
affairs.  Cremona  enjoyed  a  state  of  tranquillity  under  the  joint 
lordship  of  Luchino  and  John  the  archbishop. 

"  Luchino  Visconti  died  in  1348,  and  for  his  rare  and  excel 
lent  qualities  very  much  regretted  by  the  people  his  subjects. 
He  left  no  son,  and  therefore  the  Archbishop  obtained  the  sole 
lordship  of  Milan  and  Cremona,  and  of  many  other  cities  ac 
quired  by  the  virtue  of  Luchino.  John  and  Luchino  had  ob- 


CREMONA.  445 

tained  from  Benedict  XII.,  pope,  the  title  of  Vicars  of  the  Holy 
Apostolical  See. 

"  1350.  Bernabo  and  Galeazzo,  brothers  of  the  Visconti,  ne 
phews  of  John,  the  Archbishop  and  Lord  of  Milan  and  Cremona, 
both  married ;  the  first  to  Regina  della  Scala,  daughter  of  the 
Lord  of  Verona  and  Vicenza;  and  Galeazzo  married  a  sister 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  named  Bianca. 

"  John  Visconti,  Archbishop  and  Lord  of  Milan,  after  having 
greatly  amplified  his  dominions,  died  in  1354,  leaving  as  his 
heirs  Matthew,  Bernabo,  and  Galeazzo,  sons  of  Stephen  his 
brother.  The  extent  of  absolute  dominion  already  acquired  by 
this  family  over  the  ruins  of  so  many  commonwealths,  ruined  by 
their  unbalanced  factions,  appears  by  the  division  made  upon 
this  occasion.  To  Matthew  were  assigned  Placentia,  Lodi,  Bo 
logna,  Massa,  Lugo,  Bobio,  Pontremolo,  and  Borgo  San  Donino ; 
to  Galeazzo,  the  cities  of  Como,  Novara,  Vercelli,  Asti,  Alba, 
Alessandria,  Tortona,  Castelnuovo  di  Scrivia,  Bassignana,  Vige- 
vano,  St.  Angelo,  Montebuono,  and  Mairano ;  to  Bernabo  were 
given  Cremona,  Bergamo,  Brescia,  Crema,  Valcamonica,  Lo- 
nato,  with  all  the  river  dal  Lago  di  Garda,  and  other  places. 
The  lordship  of  Milan  and  Genoa  remained  to  them  all  united. 

"  1355.  The  Emperor,  Charles  IV.,  came  into  Italy  to  receive 
the  imperial  crown,  and  was  crowned  with  the  crown  of  iron 
at  Milan,  by  Robert  Visconti,  archbishop  of  that  city,  and  he 
there  created  knights,  John  Galeazzo,  a  boy  of  two  years  old, 
who  was  afterwards  the  first  Duke  of  Milan ;  and  Marco,  who 
was  not  two  months  old,  both  sons  of  Galeazzo  Visconti.  The 
Emperor  gave  also  the  title  of  Imperial  Vicars  in  Italy  to  the 
three  brothers,  Galeazzo,  Matthew,  and  Bernabo.  The  domi 
nion  of  Cremona  remained  alone  in  Bernabo. 

"  1365.  Bernabo  married  Verde,  his  daughter,  to  Lupoldo, 
brother  of  the  Archduke  of  Austria ;  and  the  wedding  was  cele 
brated  at  Milan,  before  a  congress  of  ambassadors  from  Cremona 
and  all  the  other  cities  subject  to  him ;  and  he  gave  his  daughter 
a  dower  of  a  hundred  thousand  florins. 

"  1368.  Violante,  daughter  of  Galeazzo,  was  married  to  a  son 
of  the  King  of  England,  with  another  dower  of  a  hundred  thou 
sand  florins,  and  an  annual  pension  of  twenty-four  thousand 
more,  assigned  upon  some  city  of  Piedmont. 

"1372.    Isabella,  the  first  wife  of  John   Galeazzo,   Conte  di 

VOL.  V.  38 


446  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

Virtu,  the  first-born  son  of  Galeazzo  Visconti,  before  mentioned, 
died,  and  left  an  only  daughter,  called  Valentina.  At  this  time 
Bernabo  gave  great  signs  of  an  inhuman  and  cruel  nature. 

"  1377.  La  Verde,  daughter  of  Galeazzo,  was  married  to  a 
son  of  the  Marquis  of  Monferrato,  who  was  assassinated  by  his 
subjects.  She  was  then  married  by  her  father,  with  a  dispensa 
tion  from  the  pope,  to  a  son  of  Bernabo. 

"  1378.  Galeazzo  died,  and  left  two  sons,  John  Galeazzo,  Conte 
di  Virtu,  and  Azzo.  John  Galeazzo,  who  was  the  eldest,  suc 
ceeded  his  father  in  the  dominion  of  the  state. 

"  1380.  Catherine  Visconti,  daughter  of  Bernabo,  was,  by  her 
father,  married  to  John  Galeazzo,  Conte  di  Virtu,  her  cousin, 
with  a  dispensation  from  the  pope. 

"  1381.  Azzo  died,  brother  of  John  Galeazzo,  to  whom  alone 
remained  the  government  of  their  paternal  state. 

"  1385.  Cremona  gave  itself  voluntarily  to  John  Galeazzo  Vis 
conti,  Conte  di  Virtu,  under  whose  dominion  came  all  the  other 
cities  and  places  subject  to  Bernabo,  his  uncle  and  father-in-law; 
Bernabo  having  been  made  a  prisoner,  with  Ludovico  and  Ro- 
dolfo,  his  sons,  by  the  same  John  Galeazzo,  who,  having  learned 
from  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Bernabo,  that  her  father  had  seve 
ral  times  attempted  to  put  him  to  death,  in  order  to  rule  alone, 
resolved  to  relieve  himself  from  anxiety  and  suspicion.  To  this 
end  he  went  to  Pavia,  and  affected  a  retired  life,  and  pretended 
to  go  a  pilgrimage  to  St.  Mary  del  Monte.  Bernabo,  with  his  two 
sons,  went  to  meet  him,  and  all  three  were  taken  by  the  soldiers 
of  John  Galeazzo,  and  confined  in  the  castle  of  Trezzo,  where 
they  all  died  of  poison,  as  it  is  supposed,  sent  them  by  his  ne 
phew  and  son-in-law.  John  Galeazzo  was  immediately  accepted 
by  the  Milanese  as  their  lord ;  and  the  Crernonians  spontaneously 
gave  themselves  up  to  Giacopo  Virino,  the  captain  and  counsel 
lor  of  the  same  John  Galeazzo,  and  soon  after  sent  sixteen  am 
bassadors  to  Milan  with  a  capitulation,  which  was  accepted  and 
confirmed  by  him,  article  by  article,  with  some  limitations.  The 
first  article  was,  that  the  city  of  Cremona  gave  itself  voluntarily 
and  by  a  common  concord  of  all  the  people. 

"  1388.  Bianca,  mother  of  John  Galeazzo,  died,  and  Valen 
tina  his  daughter,  by  Isabella,  his  first  wife,  was  married  to  Louis 
Duke  of  Orleans,  brother  of  Charles  VI.,  King  of  France ;  and 
this  year  was  bom  John  Maria,  son  of  John  Galeazzo,  by  Cathe 
rine  his  consort. 


CREMONA.  447 

"Philip  Maria,  second  son  of  John  Galeazzo,  was  born  in 
Milan,  in  1392. 

"John  Galeazzo,  Conte  di  Virtu,  obtained  the  title  of  Duke 
of  Milan,  of  Wenceslaus  the  emperor.  He  received  all  the  en 
signs  of  the  ducal  dignity,  and  that  with  admirable  pomp,  before 
a  congress  of  the  ambassadors  from  all  the  cities  subject  to  him, 
among  whom  were  those  from  Cremona,  those  from  Venice, 
Florence,  the  Marquis  di  Ferrato,  the  Lords  of  Forii  and  Urbino, 
and  the  sons  of  the  Lords  of  Padua,  with  a  multitude  of  others. 
He  gave  to  the  Emperor  an  hundred  thousand  ducats  for  the 
ducal  dignity.  In  1399,  the  Duke  obtained  the  domination  of 
the  city  of  Pisa ;  in  1400,  that  of  Perugia ;  and  in  1402,  Bo 
logna. 

"  1403.  Factions  arose  again  in  this  province,  out  of  which 
were  engendered  seditions,  civil  discords,  and  rebellions,  by  which 
John  Maria,  second  Duke  of  Milan,  lost  the  ample  dominion  that 
had  been  left  him  by  his  father.  Seditions  arose  in  Milan,  in  which 
they  expelled  the  ducal  lieutenant ;  which,  being  understood  by 
the  other  cities,  they  all  arose,  driving  off  the  ducal  officers. 
John  Castiglione,  a  Milanese,  was  then  in  Cremona,  with  the 
title  of  Ducal  Vicar,  but  he  was  now  expelled  by  the  fury  of  the 
people ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  John  Ponzone,  and  Ugolino  Ca- 
valcabo,  Marquis  of  Viadana,  most  noble  and  powerful  citizens, 
and  heads  of  the  factions  of  Guelphs  and  Maltraversi,  drove  the 
Ghibellines  from  the  city,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  it. 
There  followed,  at  this  time,  innumerable  homicides  and  burn 
ings  of  houses,  both  in  the  city  and  country,  there  not  being  a 
village  in  which  there  were  not  the  two  parties." 

But  passing  over  the  horrid  detail  of  particulars,  we  may  pass 
to  the  year  1404,  when  "  Ugolino  Cavalcabo,  having  seized  the 
dominion  of  Cremona,  conceived  suspicions  of  some  of  the  prin 
cipal  citizens,  and  caused  their  heads  to  be  struck  off,  as  guilty 
of  plotting  against  him,  and  endeavoring  to  restore  the  city  to 
the  duke.  Tyranny  and  cruelty  are  always  the  effect  of  such  a 
state  of  affairs  in  all  parties;  and  the  Duke  John  Maria  grew 
every  day  more  cruel.  He  imprisoned  his  own  mother,  Cathe 
rine  Visconti,  in  the  castle  of  Monza,  and  caused  her  to  be  there 
strangled.  tJgolino,  coming  to  battle  near  Brescia  with  Estore 
Visconti,  was  taken  prisoner  with  Marsilio  and  Caesar  Caval 
cabo  and  many  other  citizens  of  their  faction.  Ugolino  was 


448  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

conducted  to  Soncino,  and  then  to  Milan,  where  he  remained 
many  months  in  prison;  and  Cabrino  Fondulo,  his  captain, 
saved  himself  in  that  conflict  by  flight  to  Cremona.  The  capti 
vity  of  Ugolino  being  known,  Charles  Cavalcabo,  of  the  same 
family,  seized  the  government  of  Cremona. 

"  Francesco  Gasoni,  a  knight,  and  heretofore  podesta  of  Cre 
mona  for  Ugolino  Cavalcabo,  and  afterwards  made  captain- 
general  in  that  city,  by  Charles  his  successor,  was  beheaded  for 
being  suspected  of  holding  a  correspondence  and  concerting  a 
conspiracy  with  Estore  Visconti.  A  league  was  published  this 
year  between  Charles  Cavalcabo,  Pandolfo  Malatesta,  Vignati, 
Lord  of  Lodi,  and  Bartolomeo  and  Paolo  Benzoni,  Lords  of 
Crerna ;  and  Charles  took  Piadena,  whose  citadel  was  surren 
dered  to  him  by  William  Picenardo. 

"  1406.  The  Visconti  castle  was  this  year  fortified  by  Charles 
Cavalcabo,  and  Ugolino  escaping  from  prison,  went  to  Mancas- 
torma  to  find  Cabrino  Fondulo,  who  came  with  him  to  Cre 
mona,  to  enter  into  the  castle,  in  which  was  Charles,  who  had  an 
understanding  with  Fondulo.  Ugolino  was  therefore  received 
into  the  castle,  but  his  foot  was  scarcely  within  the  gate  before 
he  was  made  prisoner ;  for  these  people  were  not  much  more 
inclined  to  surrender  their  power  to  their  own  families  than  to 
strangers.  A  little  afterwards  Fondulo,  having  fraudulently 
invited  to  supper  with  him,  in  the  castle  of  Mancastorma, 
Charles  and  Andreaso  Cavalcabo,  made  them  both  prisoners, 
and  cruelly  murdered  them.  He  came  soon  after  to  Cremona 
with  many  armed  men,  entered  the  castle  and  the  other  for 
tresses,  and  made  himself  master  of  the  city,  and  of  all  the  lands 
and  castles  possessed  by  Cavalcabo,  except  Viadana,  which 
would  not  submit  to  him.  Cabrino,  little  grateful  to  that 
family  by  whom  he  had  been  elevated  to  an  honorable  rank, 
defaced  all  the  arms  of  the  Cavalcabos  which  appeared  in  public 
places,  and  miserably  murdered  Ugolino,  by  whom  he  had  been 
made  captain. 

"Fondulo,  in  1407,  caused  to  be  beheaded  two  sons  of  Pice 
nardo,  in  the  piazza  of  Cremona,  and  cast  cruelly  from  the  ruins 
of  a  tower  two  of  the  family  of  Barbuo.  This  year  Pandolfo, 
the  son  of  Fondulo,  was  born.  A  truce,  made  between  the 
Duke  of  Milan  and  Cabrino  Fondulo,  Lord  of  Cremona,  was 
renewed  for  four  months. 


CREMONA.  449 

"  1408.  John  Maria,  Duke  of  Milan,  married,  in  the  city  of 
Brescia,  Antonia,  daughter  of  Malatesta,  Lord  of  Rimini.  Ca- 
brino  Fondulo  caused  to  be  burned  John  de'  Sesto,  for  having 
made  false  money;  and  buried  alive  John  Lantero,  for  having 
slandered  Cabrino  ;  he  hanged  Lorenzo  Guazzoni,  and  beheaded 
Rubertino  of  the  same  family,  for  having  been  found  on  the  land 
of  Gazzo,  which  had  rebelled  against  him. 

"  1409.  Another  son  was  born  to  Cabrino  Fondulo,  Lord  of 
Cremona.  He  had  taken  Gazzo,  which  had  rebelled  against 
him,  and  destroyed  it ;  and  was  this  year  made  a  knight  in  the 
city  of  Milan,  by  Bucicaldo,  Governor  of  Genoa  for  the  King  of 
France. 

"  1411.  John  da  Terso,  Lord  of  Soncino,  was  taken  and  assas 
sinated  by  the  people  of  Cabrino  near  Brescia ;  and  Cabrino 
obtained  from  the  inhabitants  of  Soncino  the  land  and  fort. 

"  1412.  John  Maria  Visconti,  Duke  of  Milan,  while  he  was  at 
mass,  was  murdered  by  Trivulzio,  Guerrino,  and  Baruchino,  and 
other  conspirators  of  several  conspicuous  families,  and  Estore 
Visconti,  son  of  Barnabas,  maternal  grandfather  of  John  Maria, 
was  proclaimed  by  the  conspirators  Lord  of  Milan  ;  but  these 
were  driven  out  by  Philip  Maria,  Lord  of  Pavia,  brother  of  the 
deceased  duke,  who  entered  Milan  with  the  forces  of  Facino 
Cane,  and  Estore  being  fled  to  Monza,  was  pursued  by  Philip, 
besieged,  fought,  and  slain.  Whereupon  Philip  Maria  was  pro 
claimed  Duke  of  Milan,  and  married  Beatrice,  formerly  wife  of 
Facino  Cane,  and  availed  himself  of  her  dower,  and  of  the  sol 
diers  of  her  late  husband,  to  recover  the  state  from  the  hands  of 
the  tyrants  who,  from  the  death  of  his  father,  had  possessed  it. 
At  the  end  of  this  year  a  truce  was  made  between  the  Duke 
Philip  Maria  and  Cabrino  Fondulo. 

"  1416.  A  confederation  was  made  between  Fondulo,  Mala 
testa,  the  Marquis  of  Ferrara,  and  Philip  Arcelli,  Lord  of  Pla- 
centia,  on  one  part,  and  Philip  Maria,  Duke  of  Milan,  and  his 
adherents,  on  the  other.  The  friends  of  the  duke  were  Vignati, 
Lord  of  Lodi,  Rusca,  Lord  of  Como,  Benzone,  Lord  of  Crema, 
and  Orlando,  Marquis  Pallavicino.  This  convention  lasted  not 
long,  though  it  was  made  for  two  years. 

"  1417.    The  Duke  Philip  Maria,  having  broken  the  truce  and 
confederation,  sent  his  forces,  under  Carmagnuola,  his  captain- 
general,  to  commit  depredations  on   the   Cremonians.     Going 
38*  C2 


450  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

afterwards  to  Placentia  with  part  of  his  people,  he  was  met  by 
Cabrino,  Lord  of  Cremona,  with  a  few  infantry  of  Malatesta, 
and  defeated. 

"  1418.  Philip  Maria,  Duke  of  Milan,  caused  to  be  beheaded 
Beatrice  his  wife,  for  no  other  reason  but  because  she  was  grown 
old  and  he  was  weary  of  her,  although  he  propagated  against 
her  suspicions  of  adultery. 

"  1419.  The  Count  Carmagnuola  returned  to  the  Cremonian 
territory  with  the  ducal  army,  took  Castellione  and  all  the  other 
castles,  destroyed  the  vines  and  corn,  and  laid  siege  to  the  city. 
Cabrino  Fondulo,  seeing  that  he  could  not  resist  the  forces  of 
the  duke,  endeavored  to  sell  the  city  of  Cremona  to  Pandolfo 
Malatesta.  But  the  duke  sent  Carmagnuola  upon  the  territory 
of  Brescia,  and  soon  had  all  its  fortresses  in  his  possession. 
Cabrino,  seeing  that  the  assistance  of  Malatesta  would  fail  him, 
began,  by  the  means  of  Carmagnuola,  to  treat  of  an  agreement 
with  Philip  Maria,  who,  knowing  the  difficulty  of  taking  the 
city  from  so  powerful  and  sagacious  a  man  as  Fondulo,  finally 
agreed  with  him. 

"  1420.  Cabrino  agreed  with  the  duke  to  surrender  Cremona 
and  all  its  country,  reserving  only  Castellione,  of  which  he  was 
invested  in  fee,  with  the  title  of  marquis,  by  the  duke,  for  which 
he  paid  forty  thousand  ducats. 

"  1421.  The  duke  recovered  Genoa,  Albenga,  Savona,  and 
Brescia. 

"  1424.  Fondulo,  desirous  of  regaining  the  domination,  made 
an  agreement  with  the  Florentines  against  the  duke. 

"  1425.  The  duke  condemned  to  death  Cabrino  Fondulo,  and 
beheaded  him." 

The  rest  of  this  history  may  be  consulted  at  leisure.  It  was 
at  this  time,  and  had  been  long,  an  absolute  monarchy.  While 
it  was  a  republic  it  was  a  continual  struggle  between  the  fami 
lies  of  Pallavicini  and  Doara,  Cavalcabo  and  Visconti,  Ponzoni 
and  Cavalcabo,  Visconti  and  Fondulo.  The  family  of  Visconti 
acquired  in  Lombardy  a  sovereignty  like  that  of  the  Medici  in 
Tuscany,  and  by  the  same  means.  And  both  because  there  was 
no  balance  in  the  governments,  and  because  the  executive  power 
and  judiciary  power  were  elected  in  the  legislative  assembly; 
that  is,  precisely,  because  all  authority  was  attempted  to  be 


CREMONA.  451 

placed  in  the  same  centre.  Is  it  worth  while,  merely  for  the 
whistling  of  the  name  of  a  republic,  to  undergo  all  the  miseries 
and  horrors,  cruelties,  tyrannies,  and  crimes  which  are  the  natu 
ral  and  inevitable  fruits  of  such  a  constitution  ? 


CHAPTER   NINTH. 

PADUA. 

THE  elements  and  definitions  in  most  of  the  arts  and  sciences 
are  understood  alike,  by  men  of  education,  in  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  ;  but  in  the  science  of  legislation,  which  is  not  one  of  the 
least  importance  to  be  understood,  there  is  a  confusion  of  lan 
guages,  as  if  men  were  but  lately  come  from  Babel.  Scarcely 
any  two  writers,  much  less  nations,  agree  in  using  words  in  the 
same  sense.  Such  a  latitude,  it  is  true,  allows  a  scope  for  poli 
ticians  to  speculate,  like  merchants  with  false  weights,  artificial 
credit,  or  base  money,  and  to  deceive  the  people,  by  making  the 
same  word  adored  by  one  party,  arid  execrated  by  another.  The 
union  of  the  people,  in  any  principle,  rule,  or  system,  is  thus  ren 
dered  impossible ;  because  superstition,  prejudice,  habit,  and 
passions,  are  so  differently  attached  to  words,  that  you  can 
scarcely  make  any  nation  understand  itself.  The  words  mo 
narchy,  aristocracy,  democracy,  king,  prince,  lords,  commons, 
nobles,  patricians,  plebeians,  if  carefully  attended  to,  will  be 
found  to  be  used  in  different  senses,  perpetually,  by  different 
nations,  by  different  writers  in  the  same  nation,  and  even  by  the 
same  writers  in  different  pages. 

The  word  king,  for  example.  Ask  a  Frenchman,  What  is  a 
king  ?  His  answer  will  be,  A  man  with  a  crown  and  sceptre, 
throne  and  footstool,  anointed  at  Rheims,  who  has  the  making, 
executing,  and  interpreting  of  all  laws.  Ask  an  Englishman. 
His  idea  will  comprehend  the  throne,  footstool,  crown,  sceptre, 
and  anointing,  with  one  third  of  the  legislative  power  and  the 
whole  of  the  executive,  with  an  estate  in  his  office  to  him  and 
his  heirs.  Ask  a  Pole ;  and  he  tells  you,  It  is  a  magistrate 
chosen  for  life,  with  scarcely  any  power  at  all.  Ask  an  inhabit 
ant  of  Liege  ;  and  he  tells  you,  It  is  a  bishop,  and  his  office  is 
only  for  life.  The  word  prince  is  another  remarkable  instance. 
In  Venice,  it  means  the  senate,  and  sometimes,  by  courtesy,  the 
doge,  whom  some  of  the  Italian  writers  call  a  mere  testa  di  leg-no. 
In  France,  the  eldest  sons  of  dukes  are  princes,  as  well  as  the 
descendants  of  the  blood  royal ;  in  Germany,  even  the  rhingraves 


PADUA.  453 

are  princes  ;  and  in  Russia,  several  families,  not  descended  from 
nor  allied  to  royal  blood,  anciently  obtained,  by  grant  of  the  sove 
reign,  the  title  of  prince,  descendible  to  ah1  their  posterity  ;  the 
consequence  of  which  has  been,  that  the  number  of  princes  in 
that  country  is  at  this  day  prodigious  ;  and  the  philosopher  of 
Geneva,  in  imitation  of  the  Venetians,  professedly  calls  the  exe 
cutive  power,  wherever  lodged,  the  Prince.  How  is  it  possible 
that  whole  nations  should  be  made  to  comprehend  the  principles 
and  rules  of  government,  until  they  shall  learn  to  understand  one 
another's  meaning  by  words  ? 

But  of  all  the  words  in  all  languages,  perhaps  there  has  been 
none  so  much  abused  in  this  way  as  the  words  republic,  common 
wealth,  and  popular  state.  In  the  Rerum-Publicarum  Collectio, 
of  which  there  are  fifty  and  odd  volumes,  and  many  of  them 
very  incorrect,  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  the  four  great  em 
pires,  the  Babylonian,  Persian,  Greek,  and  Roman,  and  even  the 
Ottoman,  are  all  denominated  republics.  If,  indeed,  a  republic 
signifies  nothing  but  public  affairs,  it  is  equally  applicable  to  all 
nations ;  and  every  kind  of  government,  despotisms,  monarchies, 
aristocracies,  democracies,  and  every  possible  or  imaginable  com 
position  of  them  are  all  republics.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a  public 
good  and  evil,  a  commonwealth  and  a  common  impoverishment 
in  all  of  them.  Others  define  a  republic  to  be  a  government  of 
more  than  one.  This  will  exclude  only  the  despotisms ;  for  a 
monarchy  administered  by  laws,  requires  at  least  magistrates  to 
register  them,  and  consequently  more  than  one  person  in  the 
government.  Some  comprehend  under  the  term  only  aristocra 
cies  and  democracies,  and  mixtures  of  these,  without  any  distinct 
executive  power.  Others,  again,  more  rationally,  define  a  republic 
to  signify  only  a  government,  in  which  all  men,  rich  and  poor, 
magistrates  and  subjects,  officers  and  people,  masters  and  ser 
vants,  the  first  citizen  and  the  last,  are  equally  subject  to  the 
laws.  This,  indeed,  appears  to  be  the  true  and  only  true  definition 
of  a  republic.  The  word  re.y,  every  one  knows,  signified  in  the 
Roman  language  wealth,  riches,  property;  the  word  publicus,  quasi 
populicus,  and  per  syncope  poplicus,  signified  public,  common, 
belonging  to  the  people ;  res  publica,  therefore,  was  publica  res, 
the  wealth,  riches,  or  property  of  the  people.*  Res  populi,  and 

*  See  any  of  the  common  dictionaries,  Soranus,  Stephens,  Ainsworth. 


454  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

the  original  meaning  of  the  word  republic  could  be  no  other 
than  a  government  in  which  the  property  of  the  people  predomi 
nated  and  governed ;  and  it  had  more  relation  to  property  than 
liberty.  It  signified  a  government,  in  which  the  property  of  the 
public,  or  people,  and  of  every  one  of  them,  was  secured  and 
protected  by  law.  This  idea,  indeed,  implies  liberty ;  because 
property  cannot  be  secure  unless  the  man  be  at  liberty  to  acquire, 
use,  or  part  with  it,  at  his  discretion,  and  unless  he  have  his 
personal  liberty  of  life  and  limb,  motion  and  rest,  for  that  pur 
pose.  It  implies,  moreover,  that  the  property  and  liberty  of  all 
men,  not  merely  of  a  majority,  should  be  safe  ;  for  the  people, 
or  public,  comprehends  more  than  a  majority,  it. comprehends 
all  and  every  individual ;  and  the  property  of  every  citizen  is  a 
part  of  the  public  property,  as  each  citizen  is  a  part  of  the 
public,  people,  or  community.  The  property,  therefore,  of  every 
man  has  a  share  in  government,  and  is  more  powerful  than  any 
citizen,  or  party  of  citizens ;  it  is  governed  only  by  the  law. 
There  is,  however,  a  peculiar  sense  in  which  the  words  republic, 
commonwealth,  popular  state,  are  used  by  English  and  French 
writers ;  who  mean  by  them  a  democracy,  or  rather  a  repre 
sentative  democracy ;  a  "  government  in  one  centre,  and  that 
centre  the  nation ; "  that  is  to  say,  that  centre  a  single  assembly, 
chosen  at  stated  periods  by  the  people,  and  invested  with  the 
whole  sovereignty ;  the  whole  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
power,  to  be  exercised  in  a  body,  or  by  committees,  as  they  shall 
think  proper.  This  is  the  sense  in  which  it  was  used  by  Marcha- 
mont  Nedham,  and  in  this  sense  it  has  been  constantly  used  from 
his  time  to  ours,  even  by  writers  of  the  most  mathematical  pre 
cision,  the  most  classical  purity,  and  extensive  learning.  What 
other  authority  there  may  be  for  this  use  of  those  words  is  not 
known ;  none  has  been  found,  except  in  the  following  observa 
tions  of  Portenari,  in  which  there  are  several  other  inaccuracies ; 
but  they  are  here  inserted,  chiefly  because  they  employ  the  words 
republic,  commonwealth,  and  popular  state,  in  the  same  sense  with 
the  English  and  French  writers. 

"  We  *  may  say  with  the  philosopher,1  that  six  things  are  so 
necessary  to  a  city,  that  without  them  it  cannot  stand.     1.  The 

*  Delia  Felicita  di  Padova,  di  Angelo  Portenari,  Padovano  Agostino,  libre 
nove,  in  Padova  perPietro  Paolo  Tozzi,  1623,  p.  115. 
1  Aristot.  Polit.  b.  7,  c.  8. 


PADUA.  455 

first  is  provisions,  without  which  its  inhabitants  cannot  live. 
2.  The  second  is  clothes,  habitations,  houses,  and  other  things, 
which  depend  upon  the  arts,  without  wrhich  civil  and  political 
life  cannot  subsist.  3.  The  third  is  arms,  which  are  necessary 
to  defend  the  city  from  its  enemies,  and  to  repress  the  boldness 
of  those  who  rebel  against  the  laws.  4.  The  fourth  is  money, 
most  necessary  to  a  city  in  peace  and  in  war.  5.  The  fifth  is 
the  care  of  divine  worship.  6.  The  sixth  is  the  administration 
of  justice,  and  the  government  of  the  people.  For  the  first  are 
necessary,  cultivators  of  the  land  ;  for  the  second,  artificers  ;  for 
the  third,  soldiers ;  for  the  fourth,  merchants  and  capitalists ;  for 
the  fifth,  priests ;  for  the  sixth,  judges  and  magistrates.  Seven 
sorts  of  men,  therefore,  are  necessary  to  a  city :  husbandmen, 
artificers,  soldiers,  merchants,  rich  men,  priests,  and  judges. 

"  But,  according  to  the  same  philosopher,*  as  in  the  body 
natural  not  all  those  things,  without  which  it  is  never  found,  are 
parts  of  it,  but  only  instruments  subservient  to  some  uses,  as  in 
animals,  the  horns,  the  nails,  the  hair,  so  not  all  those  seven  sorts 
of  men  are  parts  of  the  city ;  but  some  of  them,  namely,  the 
husbandmen,  the  artificers,  and  the  merchants,  are  only  instru 
ments  useful  to  civil  life,  as  is  thus  demonstrated.  A  city  is 
constituted  for  felicity,  as  to  its  ultimate  end ;  and  human  feli 
city,  here  below,  is  reposed,  according  to  the  same  philosopher, 
in  the  operations  of  virtue,  and  chiefly  in  the  exertions  of  wis 
dom  and  prudence ;  those  men,  therefore,  are  not  parts  of  a  city, 
the  operations  of  whom  are  not  directed  to  those  virtues  ;  such 
are  the  husbandmen  who  are  occupied,  not  in  wisdom  and  pru 
dence,  but  in  laboring  the  earth ;  such  are  the  artisans,  who 
fatigue  themselves  night  and  day  to  gain  a  livelihood  for  them 
selves  and  their  poor  families ;  such,  finally,  are  the  merchants, 
who  watch  and  labor  continually,  not  in  wisdom  and  prudence, 
but  in  the  acquisition  of  gold.  It  is  therefore  clear,  that  neither 
husbandmen,  artificers,  nor  merchants,  are  parts  of  a  city,  nor 
ought  to  be  numbered  among  the  citizens,  but  only  as  instru 
ments  which  subserve  certain  uses  and  conveniences  of  the 
city." 

We  must  pause  here  and  admire!  The  foregoing  are  not 
only  the  grave  sentiments  of  Portenari  and  of  Aristotle,  but 

*  *  Arist.  Polit.  lib.  vii.  c.  9. 


456  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

form  the  doctrine  almost  of  the  whole  earth,  and  of  all  mankind; 
not  only  every  despotism,  empire,  and  monarchy,  in  Asia,  Africa, 
and  Europe,  but  every  aristocratical  republic,  has  adopted  it  in 
all  its  latitude.  There  are  only  two  or  three  of  the  smallest 
cantons  in  Switzerland,  besides  England,  who  allow  husband 
men,  artificers,  and  merchants,  to  be  citizens,  or  to  have  any 
voice  or  share  in  the  government  of  the  state,  or  in  the  choice  or 
appointment  of  any  who  have.  There  is  no  doctrine,  and  no 
fact,  which  goes  so  far  as  this  towards  forfeiting  to  the  human 
species  the  character  of  rational  creatures.  Is  it  not  amazing, 
that  nations  should  have  thus  tamely  surrendered  themselves, 
like  so  many  flocks  of  sheep,  into  the  hands  of  shepherds,  whose 
great  solicitude  to  devour  the  lambs,  the  wool,  and  the  flesh, 
scarcely  leave  them  time  to  provide  water  or  pasture  for  the 
animals,  or  even  shelter  against  the  weather  and  the  wolves  ? 

It  is,  indeed,  impossible  that  the  several  descriptions  of  men, 
last  enumerated,  should,  in  a  great  nation  and  extensive  territory, 
ever  assemble  in  a  body  to  act  in  concert;  and  the  ancient 
method  of  taking  the  sense  of  an  assembly  of  citizens  in  the 
capital,  as  in  Rome  for  example,  for  the  sense  of  all  the  citizens 
of  a  whole  republic,  or  a  large  empire,  was  very  imperfect,  and 
extremely  exposed  to  corruption;  but,  since  the  invention  of 
representative  assemblies,  much  of  that  objection  is  removed, 
though  even  that  was  no  sufficient  reason  for  excluding  farmers, 
merchants,  and  artificers,  from  the  rights  of  citizens.  At  present 
a  husbandman,  merchant,  or  artificer,  provided  he  has  any  small 
property,  by  which  he  may  be  supposed  to  have  a  judgment  and 
will  of  his  own,  instead  of  depending  for  his  daily  bread  on 
some  patron  or  master,  is  a  sufficient  judge  of  the  qualifications 
of  a  person  to  represent  him  in  the  legislature.  A  representative 
assembly,  fairly  constituted,  and  made  an  integral  part  of  the 
sovereignty,  has  power  forever  to  control  the  rich  and  illustrious 
in  another  assembly,  and  a  court  and  king,  where  there  is  a  king. 
This,  too,  is  the  only  instrument  by  which  the  body  of  the  peo 
ple  can  act;  the  only  way  in  which  their  opinions  can  be  known 
and  collected ;  the  only  means  by  which  their  wills  can  be  united, 
and  their  strength  exerted,  according  to  any  principle  or  con 
tinued  system. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  that  mobs  are  a  good  mode  of  expressing 
the  sense,  the  resentments,  and  feelings  of  the  people.*  Whig 


PADUA.  457 

mobs  to  be  sure  are  meant !  But  if  the  principle  is  once  admit 
ted,  liberty  and  the  rights  of  mankind  will  infallibly  be  betrayed; 
for  it  is  giving  liberty  to  tories  and  courtiers  to  excite  mobs  as 
well  as  to  patriots ;  and  all  history  and  experience  shows,  that 
mobs  are  more  easily  excited  by  courtiers  and  princes,  than  by 
more  virtuous  men,  and  more  honest  friends  of  liberty. 

It  is  often  said,  too,  that  farmers,  merchants,  and  mechanics, 
are  too  inattentive  to  public  affairs,  and  too  patient  under  oppres 
sion.  This  is  undoubtedly  true,  and  will  forever  be  so ;  and, 
what  is  worse,  the  most  sober,  industrious,  and  peaceable  of 
them,  will  forever  be  the  least  attentive,  and  the  least  disposed 
to  exert  themselves  in  hazardous  and  disagreeable  efforts  of 
resistance.  The  only  practicable  method,  therefore,  of  giving  to 
farmers,  &c.  the  equal  right  of  citizens,  and  their  proper  weight 
and  influence  in  society,  is  by  elections,  frequently  repeated,  of 
a  house  of  commons,  an  assembly  which  shall  be  an  essential 
part  of  the  sovereignty.  The  meanest  understanding  is  equal  to 
the  duty  of  saying  who  is  the  man  in  his  neighborhood  whom 
he  most  esteems,  and  loves  best,  for  his  knowledge,  integrity, 
and  benevolence.  The  understandings,  however,  of  husband 
men,  merchants,  and  mechanics,  are  not  always  the  meanest;, 
there  arise,  in  the  course  of  human  life,  many  among  them  of 
the  most  splendid  geniuses,  the  most  active  and  benevolent  dis 
positions,  and  most  undaunted  bravery.  The  moral  equality 
that  nature  has  unalterably  established  among  men,  gives  these 
an  undoubted  right  to  have  every  road  opened  to  them  for  ad 
vancement  in  life  and  in  power  that  is  open  to  any  others.  These 
are  the  characters  which  will  be  discovered  in  popular  elections, 
and  brought  forward  upon  the  stage,  where  they  may  exert  all 
their  faculties,  and  enjoy  all  the  honors,  offices,  and  commands, 
both  in  peace  and  war,  of  which  they  are  capable.  The  dogma 
of  Aristotle,  and  the  practice  of  the  world,  is  the  most  unphilo- 
sophical,  the  most  inhuman  and  cruel  that  can  be  conceived. 
Until  this  wicked  position,  which  is  worse  than  the  slavery  of 
the  ancient  republics,  or  modern  West  Indies,  shall  be  held  up 
to  the  derision  and  contempt,  the  execration  and  horror,  of  man 
kind,  it  will  be  to  little  purpose  to  talk  or  write  about  liberty. 
This  doctrine  of  Aristotle  is  the  more  extraordinary,  as  it  seems 
to  be  inconsistent  with  his  great  and  common  principles.*  "  that 

*  Aristot  Pol.  lib.  iv.  c.  11. 
VOL.  V.  39 


458  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

a  happy  life  must  arise  from  a  course  of  virtue  ;  that  virtue 
consists  in  a  medium;  and  that  the  middle  life  is  the  happiest. 
"  In  every  city  the  people  are  divided  into  three  sorts,  the  very 
rich,  the  very  poor,  and  the  middle  sort.  If  it  is  admitted  that 
the  medium  is  the  best,  it  follows  that,  even  in  point  of  fortune, 
a  mediocrity  is  preferable.  The  middle  state  is  most  compliant 
to  reason.  Those  who  are  very  beautiful,  or  strong,  or  noble,  or 
rich,  or,  on  the  contrary,  those  who  are  very  poor,  weak,  or  mean, 
with  difficulty  obey  reason.  The  former  are  capricious1  and  flagi 
tious  ;  the  latter,  rascally  and  mean  ;  the  crimes  of  each  arising 
from  their  different  excesses.  Those  who  excel  in  riches,  friends, 
and  influence,  are  not  willing  to  submit  to  command  or  law; 
this  begins  at  home,  where  they  are  brought  up  too  delicately, 
when  boys,  to  obey  their  preceptors.  The  constant  want  of 
what  the  rich  enjoy  makes  the  poor  too  mean  ;  the  poor  know 
not  how  to  command,  but  are  in  the  habit  of  being  commanded, 
too  often  as  slaves.  The  rich  know  not  how  to  submit  to  any 
command  ;  nor  do  they  know  how  to  rule  over  freemen,  or  to 
command  others,  but  despotically.  A  city  composed  only  of  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  consists  but  of  masters  and  slaves,  not  free 
men  ;  where  one  party  despise,  and  the  other  hate  ;  where  there 
is  no  possibility  of  friendship,  or  political  community,  which 
supposes  affection.  It  is  the  genius  of  a  free  city  to  be  com 
posed,  as  much  as  possible,  of  equals  ;  and  equality  will  be  best 
preserved  when  the  greatest  part  of  the  inhabitants  are  in  the 
middle  state.  These  will  be  best  assured  of  safety  as  well  as 
equality  ;  they  will  not  covet  nor  steal,  as  the  poor  do,  what 
belongs  to  the  rich  ;  nor  will  what  they  have  be  coveted  or 
stolen  J  without  plotting  against  any  one,  or  having  any  one 
plot  against  them,  they  will  live  free  from  danger.  For  which 
reason,  Phocylides  *  wisely  wishes  for  the  middle  state,  as  being 
most  productive  of  happiness.  It  is  plain  then  that  the  most 
perfect  community  must  be  among  those  who  are  in  the  middle 
rank  ;  and  those  states  are  best  instituted  wherein  these  are  a 
larger  and  more  respectable  part,  if  possible,  than  both  the  other  ; 


iv  Tt6l 
Which  Dr.  Gillies  interprets  thus  : 

"  How  happy  is  the  middle  walk  of  life, 
O  !  may  it  be  my  portion  in  the  state  ! 
1  tiftgicrral,  in  the  original,  "  insolent" 


PADUA.  459 

or,  if  that  cannot  be,  at  least  than  either  of  them  separate ;  so 
that,  being  thrown  into  the  balance,  it  may  prevent  either  scale 
from  preponderating.  It  is,  therefore,  the  greatest  happiness 
which  the  citizen  can  enjoy,  to  possess  a  moderate  and  conve 
nient  fortune.  When  some  possess  too  much,  and  others  no 
thing  at  all,  the  government  must  either  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
meanest  rabble,  or  else  a  pure  oligarchy.  The  middle  state  is 
best,  as  being  least  liable  to  those  seditions  and  insurrections 
which  disturb  the  community ;  and  for  the  same  reason  exten 
sive  governments  are  least  liable  to  these  inconveniences ;  for 
there  those  in  the  middle  state  are  very  numerous ;  whereas,  in 
small  ones,  it  is  easy  to  pass  to  the  two  extremes,  so  as  hardly 
to  have  arfy  medium  remaining,  but  the  one  half  rich,  and  the 
other  poor.  We  ought  to  consider,  as  a  proof  of  this,  that  the 
best  lawgivers  were  those  in  the  middle  rank  of  life,  among 
whom  was  Solon,  as  is  evident  from  his  poems,  and  Lycurgus, 
for  he  was  not  a  king ;  and  Charondas,  and,  indeed,  most  others. 
Hence,  so  many  free  states  have  changed  either  to  democracies 
or  oligarchies ;  for  whenever  the  number  of  those  in  the  middle 
state  has  been  too  small,  those  who  were  the  more  numerous, 
whether  the  rich  or  the  poor,  always  overpowered  them,  and 
assumed  to  themselves  the  administration.  When,  in  conse 
quence  of  their  disputes  and  quarrels  with  each  other,  either  the 
rich  get  the  better  of  the  poor,  or  the  poor  of  the  rich,  neither  of 
them  will  establish  a  free  state,  but,  as  a  record  of  their  victory, 
will  form  one  which  inclines  to  their  own  principles,  either  a 
democracy  or  an  oligarchy.  It  is,  indeed,  an  established  custom 
of  cities,  not  to  desire  an  equality,  but  either  to  aspire  to  govern, 
or,  when  they  are  conquered,  to  submit." 

These  are  some  of  the  wisest  sentiments  of  Aristotle;  but 
can  you  reconcile  them  with  his  other  arbitrary  doctrine,  and 
tyrannical  exclusion  of  husbandmen,  merchants,  and  tradesmen, 
from  the  rank  and  rights  of  citizens  ?  These,  or  at  least,  those 
of  them  who  have  acquired  property  enough  to  be  exempt  from 
daily  dependence  on  others,  are  the  real  middling  people,  and 
generally  as  honest  and  independent  as  any ;  these,  however,  it 
must  be  confessed,  are  too  inattentive  to  public  and  national 
affairs,  and  too  apt  to  submit  to  oppression.  When  they  have 
been  provoked  beyond  all  bearing,  they  have  airned  at  demolish 
ing  the  government,  and  when  they  have  done  that,  they  have 


460  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

sunk  into  their  usual  inattention,  and  left  others  to  erect  a  new 
one  as  rude  and  ill-modelled  as  the  former.  A  representative 
assembly,  elected  by  them,  is  the  only  way  in  which  they  can 
act  in  concert ;  but  they  have  always  allowed  themselves  to  be 
cheated  by  false,  imperfect,  partial,  and  inadequate  representa 
tions  of  themselves,  and  have  never  had  their  full  and  proper 
share  of  power  in  a  state.  But  to  proceed  with  Portenari. 

"  The  other  kinds  of  men,"  says  he,  "  namely,  the  rich,  the 
soldiers,  the  priests,  and  the  judges,  are  parts  of  the  city,  and 
properly  citizens.  The  first,  because  riches  are  instruments  for 
generating  and  conserving  virtue  in  the  citizens.  The  second, ' 
because  it  is  necessary  that  military  men,  besides  the  virtue  of 
fortitude,  should  be  adorned  with  prudence,  to  knoV  the  times 
and  occasions  proper  for  undertaking  an  enterprise.  The  third, 
because  the  priests  ought  to  be  examples  of  every  virtue  to  the 
people,  and  give  themselves  to  the  contemplation  of  divine 
things.  The  fourth,  because  the  judges  and  rectors  of  a  city,  to 
judge  and  govern  rightly,  have  occasion  more  than  all  the  others 
for  science  and  prudence,  which  are  the  true  lights  and  guides 
of  human  actions." 

If  these  are  proper  arguments  for  admitting  these  descriptions 
of  men  into  the  order  of  citizens,  instead  of  being  reasons  for 
excluding  merchants,  &c.  they  are  of  proportional  weight  for 
admitting  them. 

"  As  to  the  form  of  government,  which  is  the  other  part  of  the 
animated  city,  let  us  say  with  those  wise  men  who  have  written 
of  civil  dominion  and  public  administration,  as  Plato,*  Aristotle,! 
Polybius,  $  Plutarch,  §  and  others,  ||  that  the  simple  forms  of 
good  government  are  three,  to  which  are  opposed  three  other 
forms  of  bad  government.  The  first  form  of  good  government 
is  monarchy,  or  kingship,  and  is  the  absolute  and  independent 
dominion  of  one  man  alone,  who  has  for  the  ultimate  end  of  his 
operations  the  public  good,  and  the  best  state  of  the  city,  and 
who  has  the  same  relation  to  his  subjects  that  the  shepherd  has 
to  his  flock,  and  the  father  to  his  children.  Such  were  the  mon 
archies  of  the  Assyrians,  Medes,  Persians,  Macedonians,  Scy 
thians,  Egyptians,  and  Romans,  from  the  beginning  of  their 

*  4  &  8  De  Leg.  fr  in  Civili,  seu  De  Regno.        f  3  Polit.  c.  7, 8,  &  8  Eth.  c.  10. 
J  Lib.  vi.  §  De  Unius  in  Repub.  Domin. 

||  Sigon.  De  Ant.  Jur.  Civ.  Rom.  lib.  i.  c.  1. 


PADUA.  461 

reign  to  the  creation  of  the  consuls,  and,  after  the  extinction  of 
the  Roman  republic,  under  the  empire  of  many  Caesars.  To 
monarchy  is  opposed*  that  form  of  government  which  is  called 
tyranny,  in  which  one  lords  it  alone,  who  has  no  thoughts  of  the 
public  good,  but  whose  aim  is  to  depress  and  exterminate  the 
citizens,  to  whom  he  shows  himself  a  monster,  rapacious  after 
their  property,  and  a  cruel  wild  beast  after  their  lives ;  such  were 
Phalaris  in  Agrigentum,f  Dionysius  in  Syracuse,  J  and  Nero  in 
Rome.  § 

"  The  second  form  of  good  government  is  aristocracy,  accord 
ing  to  which  the  dominion  is  held  by  those  who,  above  all  others, 
are  adorned  with  virtue,  prudence,  and  benevolence ;  who  direct 
ing  all  their  actions  to  the  utility  and  common  dignity  of  the 
city,  procure  it  a  happy  and  blessed  state.  This  species  of 
government  is  called  also  the  regimen  of  the  better  sort,  (optima- 
tes,)  either  because  the  best  men  of  the  city  bear  rule,  or  because 
they  look,  in  all  their  operations,  to  the  best  and  most  perfect 
state  of  the  city.  This  manner  of  government  was  used  by  the 
Spartans.  To  this  form  of  government  is  opposed  oligarchy, 
which  is  a  principality  of  the  most  rich  and  powerful,  who,  for 
the  most  part,  are  few ;  who,  by  depressing  and  robbing  of  their 
property  the  less  rich,  and  crushing  the  poor  with  intolerable 
weight,  make  a  government  full  of  arrogance  and  of  violence, 
and  are  like  wolves  among  lambs.  Such  was  the  dominion  of 
the  Triumvirs  in  Rome,  who  having  oppressed  the  republic,  pro 
scribed  and  put  to  death  many  good  citizens,  and  plundered 
their  property ;  exalting  the  seditious  and  perverse,  and  abasing 
good  men,  they  distempered  Rome  with  their  contagious  wick 
edness  ;  and  of  a  city,  the  capital  of  the  world,  they  made  it  a 
den  of  robbers.  || 

"  The  third  form  of  good  government,  not  having  a  proper 
name,  was  called  by  the  Greeks  politeia,  and  by  the  Latins,  res- 
publica,  names  common  to  every  species  of  government.  This  is 
the  dominion  of  the  multitude,  namely, — of  the  whole  body  of  the 
city,  composed  of  all  sorts  of  citizens,  rich  and  poor,  nobles  and 

*  Plutar.  Loc.  Cit.  Beros.  lib.  iv.     Diodor.  lib.  i.  3.     10  Justin,  lib.  i.  2,  3.    Oros. 
lib.  i.  &  seq.     Herod,  lib.  i.  2.     Liv.  et  alii  script.  Rom.  Hist. 
f  Val.  Max.  lib.  ix.  c.  2.     Cic.  in  Verr.  5. 
J  Cic.  2,  De  Offic.     Plat  Epist.  vii.     Diodor.  lib.  xiv. 
§  Suet,  in  Neron.     Tacit.  14  Annal. 
(I  Appian.  4,  De  Bel.  Civ.     Plutarch  in  Ant. 
39* 


462  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

plebeians,  wise  and  foolish,  which  is  also  called  a  popular  govern* 
ment.  All  this  body,  which  contains  men,  some  endowed  with 
prudence  and  wisdom,  some  inclined  to  virtue  and  persuadable 
to  all  good  works,  by  the  conversation  and  familiarity  which 
they  have  with  the  prudent  and  learned,  employ  all  their  care, 
labor,  and  industry,  to  the  end  that  the  city  flourish  in  all  those 
things  which  are  necessary  and  convenient  for  living  well  and 
happily,  such  as  was  at  one  time  the  government  of  the  Athe 
nians.*  To  this  species  of  good  government  is  opposed  demo 
cracy  ;  according  to  which  the  most  abject  plebeians,  and  the 
vilest  vulgar,  hold  the  domination  for  their  own  private  interest, 
by  which  they  oppress  the  rich  and  the  noble,  and  aggrandize  and 
enrich  the  poor  and  the  ignoble,  as  the  two  brothers,  the  Gracchi, 
began  to  do  in  Rome.f 

"  Three,  therefore,  are  the  simple  forms  of  good  government, 
monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  that  which  by  a  common  name  is 
called  a  republic ;  and  from  these,  mixed  together,  four  others 
may  result.  The  first  is  compounded  of  all  the  three,  as  was 
that  of  the  Lacaedemonians,  instituted  by  Lycurgus,;j:  who,  se 
lecting  the  good  from  the  three  former,  composed  out  of  them  one 
of  the  most  perfect  kind.  Such,  also,  was  the  Roman  republic,  § 
in  which  the  power  of  the  consuls  was  like  the  regal  authority ; 
that  of  the  senate  was  aristocratical ;  and  that  of  the  people 
resembled  the  popular  state.  The  second  form  of  mixed  govern 
ment  is  composed  of  monarchy  and  aristocracy,  such  as,  accord 
ing  to  some,  is  the  most  serene  republic  of  Venice, ||  in  which 
the  annual  podestas  have  a  power  similar  to  a  regal  authority, 
and  the  senate  are  an  assembly  or  collection  of  the  optimates; 
although  others  contend  that  it  is  a  perfect  aristocracy.  The 
third  is  mixed  of  a  monarchy  and  a  republic ;  and  the  fourth  of 
a  republic  and  an  aristocracy ;  of  which  two  species  of  mixed 
government  we  have  no  examples  to  allege. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  three  simple  forms  ;  it  is  the  common 
opinion  of  the  learned,  ^f  that  monarchy  holds  the  first  rank 

*  Plut.  De  Unius  in  Rep.  Dominio.  Thucyd.  lib.  ii.  in  Oral.  Periclis.  Sig.  De 
Repub.  Athen.  lib.  i.  c.  5. 

f  Appian.  1,  De  Bel.  Civ.     Plutarch  in  Gracchis. 

j  Polyb.  lib.  vi.     Sigon.  De  Ant.  Jure  Civ.  Rom.  lib.  i.  c.  1. 

§  Bellarm.  De  Roma.  \\  Boter.  Relat.  Venet.  p.  1.     Sabellic.  lib.  iii.  lee.  2. 

1  Plat,  in  Civili  vet  De  Reg.  Arist.  8  Ethic,  c.  10.  &  3  Polit.  c.  10.  Philo.  lib. 
De  Conf.  Linguar.  Senec.  2  De  Benef.  Herod,  lib.  iii.  Horn.  2  Iliad,  v.  204. 


PADUA.  463 

above  all  others,  resembling  the  power  of  God  Almighty,  who 
alone  governs  the  world ;  resembling  the  heart,  which  alone  vivi 
fies  all  the  parts  of  the  animal;  and  resembling  the  sun,  which 
alone  illuminates  the  celestial  bodies,  as  well  as  the  lower  world. 
It  is  very  true,  that  to  a  monarchy  ought  to  be  elevated  only  that 
citizen,  according  to  the  philosopher,*  who,  exceeding  others  in 
the  ordinary  course,  in  riches,  wisdom,  prudence,  and  benevolence, 
is  like  a  god  upon  earth ;  such  as  would  be  the  man  who  should 
be  adorned  with  heroic  virtue,  according  to  which,  performing  all 
the  labors  of  virtue  in  the  utmost  perfection  and  supreme  excel 
lency,  he  would  appear  to  be  not  the  son  of  a  mortal,  f  but  of 
God.  But  it  being  impossible,  or  at  least  most  difficult,  to  find 
a  man  so  rare,  it  has  happened,  that,  laying  aside  monarchy,  the 
philosophers  have  disputed  which  of  the  other  two  forms  of 
good  government  is  better  accommodated,  more  practicable,  and 
more  profitable,  for  the  regimen  of  cities  and  of  peoples.  Some 
were  of  opinion  that  this  praise  was  due  to  an  aristocracy  ;  never 
theless  Aristotle  confutes  them,  because  in  the  aristocratical 
government  the  magistracies  and  the  honors  being  always  in  the 
hands  of  a  few,  there  is  great  danger  that  the  multitude,  perpe 
tually  excluded  from  public  management,  should  be  tumultuous, 
and  conspire  against  the  lives  of  the  principal  men,  to  the  great 
damage  of  the  whole  city;  because  in  these  revolts  the  force  and 
violence  of  the  people  regard  friends  no  more  than  enemies ;  it 
is  mad,  and  most  horribly  pillages,  murders,  and  abuses,  all  that 
comes  in  its  way.  It  remains,  then,  that  the  third  species  of 
good  government,  which  is  the  popular  government,  in  which  the 
citizens  alternately  command  and  obey,  must  be  the  most  useful, 
and  better  adjusted  to  the  nature  of  man,  in  whose  soul  the 
Divinity  has  stamped  the  desire  of  ruling ;  with  such  limitations 
and  temperaments,  however,  as,  says  the  same  philosopher,  that 
the  vile  plebeians  may  not  have  magistrates  appointed  for  their 
ignorance  and  imprudence,  which  are  the  two  fountains  of  all 
civil  calamities ;  but  that  the  plebeians  may  not  be  totally  de 
spised,  and  that  all  occasion  of  insurrections  may  be  taken  away, 
power  should  be  given  them  of  joining  with  the  other  citizens  in 
the  election  of  magistrates,  and  of  calling  them  to  account  for 
their  administration." 

*  Aristotle,  3  Polit.  c.  11.  f  7  Eth.  c.  1. 


464  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

"  All  these  opinions  appear  to  be  not  unbecoming ;  for,  al 
though  the  plebeians  be  not  qualified  of  themselves  to  judge 
who  are  fit  for  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  city,  and 
to  know  the  failings  of  those  who  have  governed,  nevertheless, 
by  the  conversation  and  practice  which  they  have  in  such  things 
with  the  wise  men,  it  is  presumed  that,  from  daily  intercourse 
with  these,  and  from  common  fame  and  public  reputation,  which 
daily  circulates  concerning  men  who  are  wise  and  good  in  gov 
ernment,  they  may  have  so  much  light,  that  they  may  discern 
the  apt  from  the  inept,  and  good  behavior  from  bad.  This  may 
suffice  to  have  said  concerning  the  different  forms  of  government 
according  to  the  writers  before  cited,  in  order  to  explain  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  the  form  of  government  in  Padua,  and  the 
various  changes  it  passed  through. 

"  In  the  four  hundred  and  fifty-second  year  of  the  Christian 
era,  Padua  was  miserably  destroyed  by  Attila,  King  of  the 
Huns.  The  Paduans,  who  then  fled  for  safety  to  the  islands  in  the 
Adriatic,  could  not  return  for  fifty  years  to  rebuild  their  city,  for 
the  many  armies  of  barbarians  who  infested  Italy  till  493.  when 
Theodoric,  King  of  the  Ostrogoths,  killed  Odoacer,  King  of  the 
Heruli,  and  remained  unrivalled  in  the  dominion  of  Italy.  But 
Justinian,  the  emperor,  having,  in  535,  sent  Belisarius,  and  after 
wards,  in  552,  Narses,  to  drive  away  the  Goths  from  Italy,  Padua, 
in  that  war,  which  lasted  with  alternate  victories  and  defeats  of 
the  Goths  and  the  Greeks,  eighteen  years,  was  subjected  some 
times  by  one  and  sometimes  by  the  other.  Afterwards,  under 
the  government  of  exarchs,  till  601,  it  was  a  second  time  burned 
and  destroyed  by  Aginulphus,  King  of  the  Lombards.  It  was 
afterwards  restored  by  the  Paduans,  assisted  by  the  Venetians, 
and  remained  under  the  dominion  of  the  Lombards,  till  they 
were  exterminated  by  Charlemagne,  King  of  France,  in  774. 
It  became  subject  to  the  Kings  of  France  of  the  race  of  Charle 
magne,  and  after  them  to  the  Berengarii,  and  finally  to  the  em 
perors  of  Germany,  from  Otho  I.  to  Henry  the  Fourth,  according 
to  the  German,  and  the  Third,  according  to  the  Italian  historians. 
In  a  word,  Padua  lived  under  foreign  law  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  years,  namely,  —  from  452  to  1081 ;  thirty-three  years  before 
which  period,  namely,  —  in  1048,  a  few  rays  of  liberty  began 

Lib.  iv.  cap.  2,  p.  123. 


PADUA.  465 

to  dawn,  because  the  Emperor  Henry  III.,  (as  appears  by  pub 
lic  instruments  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  cathedral  of 
Padua,)  granted,  for  the  repose  of  his  soul,  and  that  of  Agnese 
his  wife,  to  Bernard  Maltravers,  Bishop  of  Padua,  the  preroga 
tive  of  coining  money,  building  fortresses  and  castles  with 
towers  and  ramparts,  erecting  mills,  and  to  be,  as  it  were,  prince 
of  the  city.  Afterwards,  Henry  IV.,  his  son.  at  the  solicitation 
of  the  Queen  Bertha,  his  wife,  and  on  account  of  the  prayers  of 
Milo,  Bishop  of  Padua,  his  relation,  gave  liberty,  in  1081,  to  the 
Paduans,  conceding  to  them,  that,  for  the  future,  they  might  live 
according  to  their  own  laws,  and  have  a  triumphal  chariot,  (car- 
roccio,)  which  was  the  principal  sign  of  a  free  city.*  This  car- 
roccio,  for  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the  benefit  received  by  the 
intercession  of  Queen  Bertha,  was  called  by  the  Paduans  by 
her  name.  Henry  also  granted  them  the  faculty  of  making  of 
the  body  of  their  nobility  a  senate,  who,  for  the  government  of 
the  city,  created  annually  two  consuls.f 

"  There  was,  therefore,  formed  a  government  mixed  of  mo* 
narchy  and  aristocracy,  says  the  historian  ;  of  monarchy,  because 
the  consuls,  according  to  the  manner  of  kings,  had  the  power 
of  life  and  death ;  and  of  aristocracy,  because  the  senate,  exclu 
sively  of  the  plebeians,  was  composed  only  of  patricians  or 
nobles.  These,  as  the  desire  of  enlarging  dominion  is  insatiable, 
not  contented  to  have  the  government  of  the  city,  procured, 
partly  by  imperial  grants,  and  partly  by  other  means,  jurisdiction 
of  blood  in  their  castles  situated  in  the  country  of  Padua,  assum 
ing  the  titles  of  proceri,  peers  or  barons,  and  a  little  afterwards 
the  yet  higher  ones  of  marquises,  counts,  and  castellans.  Padua 
was  ruled  by  this  form  of  government  about  eighty  years,  in 
peace  and  tranquillity ;  but  peace  being  the  nurse  of  riches,  and 
riches  of  ambition,  the  consular  dignity  began  to  be  ardently 
desired  by  all  men,  and  caballed  for  by  every  artifice.  In  the 
progress  of  these  contests,  as  one  would  not  give  way  to  another, 
and  as  it  all  depended  on  a  few  of  the  most  powerful,  the  city 
became  divided  into  factions,  which  finally,  in  1177,  came  to 
arms,  and  civil  wars  ensued,  which  for  some  years  filled  the  city 
with  slaughter,  burnings,  revolt,  and  confusion ;  so  that  the  con- 

*  See  a  description  and  stamp  of  the  Paduan  carroccio,  in  Portenari,  lib.  v. 
c.  5  and  6. 

f  Sigonius,  De  Reg.  Ital.  lib.  ix.  an.  1081. 


466  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

sulate,  becoming  feeble,  was  now  intermitted,  and  then  exercised, 
according  as  the  power  of  different  parties  prevailed.  But  finally, 
this  magistracy,  serving  no  longer  for  the  maintenance  of 'the 
public  good,  but  merely  as  an  instrument  of  revenge  against 
enemies,  and  having  become  most  pernicious,  not  less  to  the  ple 
beians  than  to  the  patricians,  was,  in  1194,  abrogated  and  totally 
extinguished. 

"  The  good  government,1  composed  of  monarchy  and  aristo 
cracy,"  as  our  author  calls  it,  though  nobody  will  agree  with  him 
in  opinion  at  this  day,  "  being  changed,  by  the  malice  of  men, 
into  the  bad  one  of  oligarchy,  and  this  by  its  noxious  qualities 
being  in  a  short  time  annihilated,  there  arose  another  species  of 
government,  mixed  of  monarchy  and  a  republic,  in  this  form  :  — 
The  Paduans  instituted  four  councils  ;  the  first  was  of  eighteen, 
whom  they  called  the  Anziani,  three  of  whom  were  drawn  by  lot 
every  three  months.  They  were  afterwards  reduced  to  the  num 
ber  of  sixteen,  and  then  drawn  to  the  number  of  four  every  four 
months.  The  office  of  these  magistrates  was,  together  with  the 
podesta,  to  exert  themselves  with  all  their  influence  and  power  to 
conciliate  and  appease  all  discords  and  dissensions  among  the 
citizens,  not  only  in  civil  affairs,  but  in  criminal  prosecutions  ;  to 
see  that  the  decrees  of  the  senate  regarding  the  public  utility  were 
observed ;  that  the  buildings  going  to  decay  should  be  rebuilt  or 
repaired ;  that  the  streets,  public  roads,  and  walks  should  be  kept 
in  order,  free,  and  unincumbered  with  obstructions;  that  in  the 
principal  quarters  of  the  city  instruments  should  be  provided  for 
extinguishing  or  preventing  the  progress  of  fire,  such  as  buckets, 
vessels  and  ropes  for  drawing  water,  ladders,  hatchets,  pickaxes, 
iron  bars,  &c. ;  and,  finally,  to  suggest  to  the  other  councils  all 
those  things  which  might  be  of  public  utility.  And  that  they 
might  be  enabled  to  do  this,  all  public  letters  from  foreign  princes, 
and  from  all  magistrates  within  the  dominion  of  Padua,  were 
read  in  their  presence.  No  man  was  admitted  to  this  council  of 
the  anziani  who  was  not  a  Paduan  by  birth,  and  an  inhabitant 
of  the  city  for  at  least  thirty  years  without  interruption,  and  who 
had  not  a  foundation  of  property  among  his  fellow  citizens  of  at 
least  two  hundred  pounds  a  year. 

The  second  council  was  called  the  lesser,  which  at  first  con- 

1  Cap.  xiii.  p.  124. 


PADUA.  467 

sisted  of  forty  citizens,  partly  noble,  and  partly  plebeian,  but 
afterwards  was  increased  to  the  number  of  sixty.  The  authority 
of  this  council  was  such,  that  nothing  could  be  treated  in  the 
greater  council  if  it  were  not  first  discussed  and  agitated  here, 
and  from  hence  proposed  to  the  greater  council.  The  mode  of 
discussing  and  consulting  upon  business  was  by  the  way  of  ora 
tions  or  harangues  made  by  the  senators,  after  which  they  pro 
ceeded  to  a  vote,  and  two  thirds  of  the  suffrages  determined  the 
question.  This  rule  was  also  observed  in  the  greater  council. 
This  council  was  changed  every  four  months,  and  the  senators 
who  had  once  been  in  it  must  be  excluded  for  eight  months. 
Father  and  son,  brothers,  and  uncle  and  nephew,  were  not  per 
mitted  to  sit  together  in  it.  To  be  of  this  council,  it  was  neces 
sary  to  be  a  Paduan  born,  to  have  a  father  who  was  a  Paduan 
born,  to  have  inhabited  in  Padua  with  a  family  at  least  for  forty 
years  continually,  to  have  an  estate  of  fifty  pounds  income,  and 
to  have  served  in  the  ordinary  charges  of  the  commons  of  the 
city. 

"  The  third  council  was  called  the  Greater  Council  and  Parlia 
ment.  It  was  at  first  of  three  hundred  senators,  one  moiety 
nobles,  and  the  other  moiety  plebeians  ;  it  was  afterwards 
increased  to  the  number  of  six  hundred,  and  finally,  in  1277,  to 
a  thousand.  The  magistrates  were  chosen,  and  all  affairs  rela 
tive  to  peace  and  war  were  debated  in  it.  By  these  two  coun 
cils,  the  greater  and  the  less,  were  made,  at  divers  times,  various 
municipal  laws  and  statutes,  of  which,  by  a  determination  of 
1263,  four  copies  were  made.  The  first  was  deposited  in  the 
monastery  of  St.  Benedict,  the  second  in  that  of  St.  John,  the 
third  in  that  of  St.  Mary,  and  the  fourth  in  that  of  the  fathers  of 
St.  Mary  di  Porciglia. 

The  fourth  and  last  council  was  common  to  all  the  people  of 
the  city,  into  which,  the  doors  being  open,  every  one  might  enter. 
But  this  council  was  very  seldom  assembled,  and  never  but  for 
things  of  the  utmost  importance.  The  Paduans  desirous  of  pro 
viding  a  remedy  against  the  disorders  and  mischiefs  occasioned 
by  the  consulate,  and  to  extinguish  in  the  citizens  all  occasions 
of  ambition  to  enjoy  the  government  of  the  city,  invented  the 
annual  magistrate  of  the  podesta,  which  was  the  best  medicine 
that  could  be  thought  of  by  them  to  cure  the  disorders  already 
felt,  and  prevent  the  greater  that  were  apprehended.  They  esta- 


468  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

blished,  therefore,  as  ruler  of  the  city,  a  person  who  should  be  a 
foreigner,  of  noble  blood  and  excellent  reputation  for  virtue,  who, 
by  the  weight  and  eminence  of  his  authority  in  cases  of  life  and 
death,  and  from  his  superintendence  over  all  the  judicial  author 
ity,  civil  and  criminal,  from  the  more  absolute  obedience  paid 
him  as  the  supreme  head  of  all  the  other  magistracies,  of  the 
patricians,  of  the  plebeians,  and  of  the  rustics,  and,  in  a  word, 
from  his  absolute  power,  as  it  is  called,  over  the  city  and  its  ter 
ritory,  was  called,  by  way  of  eminence,  by  the  name  of  Podesta. 

"  This  manner  of  government  continued  happily  enough,  as  it 
is  said,  till  1237,  when  the  city  was  subjected  by  Ezzelino  da 
Romano,  who  most  terribly  afflicted  arid  most  cruelly  tormented 
it  for  the  space  of  nineteen  years ;  in  which  time  there  was  no 
sort  of  torment,  inhumanity,  or  cruelty,  which  it  did  not  suffer 
from  that  infernal  monster,  during  whose  tyranny  that  most 
malignant  pestilence,  the  factions  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines, 
which,  under  the  names  of  the  Imperial  party  and  the  party  of  the 
Church,  infected  many  cities  of  Italy,  among  others,  distempered 
Pistoia,  and  did  inestimable  mischief. 

"  Before  we  pass  on,  it  may  be  well,  for  the  more  complete 
information  concerning  this  magistrate  of  the  podesta,  to  relate  a 
few  particulars.  The  podesta  was  obliged,  three  months  before 
the  end  of  his  government,  which  lasted  one  year,  to  assemble 
the  greater  council,  and  cause  to  be  elected  eight  citizens,  four 
noble  and  four  plebeian,  of  more  than  thirty  years  of  age.  These 
elected  twelve  senators  of  the  same  council  and  of  the  same  age, 
six  of  the  patricians  and  six  plebeians ;  who,  in  like  manner, 
elected  eight  others  of  the  same  council,  age,  and  condition,  the 
office  of  whom  was  to  elect  the  new  podesta.  These  were  shut 
up  together  in  one  apartment,  and  could  not  speak  to  any  one, 
or  have  more  than  one  repast  a  day,  that  they  might  the  sooner 
agree  in  the  nomination  of  three  personages,  who  were  after 
wards  carried  to  the  greater  council,  who  proceeded  to  the  elec 
tion  in  this  manner.  All  three  were  separately  balloted  for,  and 
he  who  had  the  most  suffrages  was  the  new  podesta ;  he  who  had 
the  next  number  of  votes  held  the  second  place  ;  and  he  who 
had  fewest,  the  last,  in  such  election.  The  syndic  of  the  city  was 
sent  in  haste  with  public  letters  to  him  who  had  been  honored 
with  most  votes,  who,  if  he  accepted  the  charge,  was  understood 
to  be  podesta  ;  but  if  in  four  days  he  did  not  accept  it,  the  syndic 


PADUA.  469 

was  sent  to  the  second ;  and  if  he  refused,  the  third  was  sent  to ; 
and  if  he  declined,  a  new  election  was  made  of  other  three  per 
sons;  and  of  the  acceptance  or  refusal  of  these  a  record  was 
made  by  a  notary. 

"  This  method  of  electing  the  podesta  was  changed  in  1257, 
whereby  the  examination  of  the  subjects  fit  for  the  post  was  com 
mitted  to  the  lesser  council,  the  election  of  whom  afterwards  was 
made  by  the  greater  council,  with  this  condition,  however,  by 
virtue  of  a  statute  made  in  1236,  that  the  electors  of  the  present 
podesta  could  not  have  a  vote  in  the  election  of  the  subsequent 
podesta.  No  man  could  be  elected  podesta  who  had  in  Padua, 
relations,  by  consanguinity  or  affinity  within  the  fourth  degree, 
nor  who  had  been  banished  from  his  country  for  forgery  or  trea 
son  ;  and  this  was  also  understood  of  the  court  or  retinue  which 
the  podesta  brought  with  him,  which  consisted  of  four  judges  or 
assessors,  two  lieutenants  of  police,  and  some  other  constables. 
The  office  of  the  first  judge  was  to  assist  the  podesta  in  all  things 
belonging  to  the  government  of  the  city ;  the  other  three  judges 
had  the  charge  of  hearing  and  trying  the  criminal  causes,  each 
one  for  three  months,  which  was  ordained  to  remove  all  occasion 
of  suspicion  that  the  accused,  by  length  of  time,  might  possibly 
corrupt  the  judges.  But  these  orders  were  afterwards  changed, 
and  it  was  resolved  that  the  first  judge,  who  must  be  an  eminent 
doctor  of  laws,  should  be  the  vicar  of  the  podesta ;  that  the  second 
should  judge  criminal  causes ;  the  third  should  have  the  charge 
of  the  provisions  ;  and  that  the  fourth  should  be  questor  and 
receiver  of  the  public  money.  The  podesta,  judges,  and  lieute 
nants,  could  not  have  with  them  in  Padua  their  wives,  nor  other 
ladies  their  relations,  unless  for  fifteen  days,  on  occasion  of  sick 
ness,  nor  even  their  brothers,  sons,  or  nephews,  above  twelve 
years  of  age,  nor  servants  who  were  Paduans.  The  podesta  was 
obliged  to  bring  with  him  his  two  lieutenants,  twelve  bailiffs, 
twelve  horses,  twelve  valets  and  servants,  and  to  maintain  all  this 
family  and  these  horses  at  his  expense,  for  the  public  service  of 
the  city.  His  salary  was  two  thousand  five  hundred  lire  a  year, 
and  was  afterwards  increased  to  four  thousand.  The  podesta 
was  required  to  come  to  Padua  eight  days  at  least  before  posses 
sion  was  given  him  of  the  post,  in  which  time  he  was  obliged  to 
take  the  oath  of  office,  namely,  —  to  swear  that  he,  with  his 
judges,  would  govern  without  ambition  and  justly,  and  that  they 

VOL.  v.  40 


470  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

would  give  the  greatest  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  public,  and 
with  all  their  power  would  conciliate  and  pacify  the  controversies 
and  discords  of  the  citizens.  The  podestarate  began  on  the  first 
of  July  ;  but  in  1280,  it  was  decreed  to  begin  the  first  of  January. 
This  magistracy  at  first  continued  for  a  year  ;  but  in  1294,  a  law 
was  made  that  it  should  endure  only  six  months,  and  that  two 
podestas  should  be  created  each  year,  one  of  whom  should  begin 
his  administration  with  January,  the  other  with  July  ;  which  law 
was  observed  as  long  as  the  republic  of  Padua  remained.  But 
after  Padua  became  subject,  now  to  the  emperor,  Henry  VIL, 
now  to  Frederic,  Duke  of  Austria,  now  to  his  brother  Henry, 
Duke  of  Carinthia,  now  to  the  Scaligeri,  Lords  of  Verona,  then 
to  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and  finally  to  the  Carrara  family,  this 
custom  of  two  podestas  went  into  desuetude. 

"  The  podesta,  when  once  in  possession  of  his  office,  was  bound 
to  execute  the  following  orders  :  —  First,  in  the  space  of  eight 
days,  to  cause  to  be  read,  and  afterwards  to  cause  to  be  punctu 
ally  observed,  the  papal  constitutions  against  heretics.  Secondly, 
to  reside  continually  in  the  city,  and  rule  it  until  the  arrival  of  a 
successor.  Thirdly,  during  the  whole  time  of  his  administration, 
to  hear  the  causes  of  all  persons  indifferently,  to  which  end  the 
gates  of  the  palace,  except  at  the  hour  of  dinner,  always  stood 
open.  Fourthly,  that,  together  with  the  anziani,  he  should  use 
all  his  endeavors  that  the  canonicates  and  the  other  ecclesiastical 
benefices  of  the  bishopric  and  diocese  of  Padua  should  be  con 
ferred  on  citizens  of  Padua  or  of  the  district.  Fifthly,  to  elect 
eight  citizens,  men  of  prudence  and  experience,  two  for  each 
quarter,  who  should  make  choice  of  four  or  five  hundred  able 
men,  who,  when  they  should  hear  the  sound  of  the  palace  bell, 
were  to  come  armed,  under  their  standards,  to  the  palace  of  the 
pretor,  and  to  the  Piazza  del  Vino,  for  the  defence  of  the  podesta. 
Sixthly,  to  give  orders  that,  at  the  sound  of  the  great  bell  of  the 
tower  of  the  palace,  all  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  Padua, 
from  sixteen  to  sixty  years  of  age,  should  run  armed  to  the  piazza 
to  defend  the  common  liberty.  Seventhly,  to  create  a  captain, 
who,  with  some  soldiers,  should  have  the  custody  of  the  city  and 
its  suburbs.  Eighthly,  to  hold,  night  and  day,  guards  at  the  gates 
of  the  city.  Ninthly,  to  give  orders  that  in  the  city  and  in  the 
suburbs  should  be  kept  crossbows  and  other  weapons  to  exercise 
the  soldiers.  Tenthly,  to  cause  to  be  enrolled  in  the  militia  many 


PADUA.  471 

men  of  the  villages,  who,  according  to  occurrences,  should  come 
armed  to  the  city.  Eleventhly,  in  all  great  tumults,  to  order  into 
the  piazza  the  standard  of  the  community  ;  in  which  case,  all  the 
gastaldi  of  the  arts,  at  the  sound  of  the  bells  of  the  palace,  were 
held  to  go  to  the  Piazza  del  Vino,  with  the  men  under  their  com 
mand,  armed,  ready  to  obey  whatever  orders  the  podesta  should 
issue,  and  there  assemble,  to  be  formed  into  a  body,  under  the 
ensign  of  the  community,  which  could  not  depart  from  the  piazza 
without  the  express  command  of  the  podesta  himself,  for  whose 
guard  there  were  always  five  hundred  soldiers  chosen,  one  hun 
dred  from  the  body  of  the  patricians,  and  four  hundred  from  the 
plebeians,  and  distinguished  into  four  squadrons,  under  four 
standards.  Twelfthly,  that  for  eight  days  before  the  arrival  of  a 
successor,  the  podesta  cannot  give  sentence  in  civil  or  criminal 
causes.  Thirteenthly,  that  having  finished  his  podestarate,  he, 
his  assessors,  and  court,  should  remain  fourteen  days  in  Padua, 
to  render  an  account  before  the  syndic  of  their  administration, 
which  is  done  in  this  manner :  —  For  the  first  three  days,  it  was 
lawful  to  every  one  to  accuse  the  podesta,  assessors,  and  court, 
before  the  syndics,  of  any  wrongs  or  injuries  done  them.  In  the 
eight  following  days  these  complaints  were  determined  by  the 
votes  of  the  major  part  of  the  syndics  ;  and  if,  by  the  multitude 
of  complaints,  or  by  differences  of  opinions  among  the  syndics, 
or  through  other  reasons,  the  business  could  not  be  finished, 
three  other  days  were  added,  in  which  the  syndics  were  obliged 
to  determine  it.  From  the  defence  against  the  complaints  made 
of  the  podesta,  all  his  favorites,  friends,  and  relations  were  ex 
cluded,  and  all  advocates  ;  his  own  judges  and  assessors  were 
alone  admitted,  and  were  thought  sufficient  for  his  defence.  At 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  day  the  podesta  might  depart  with  his 
family.  He  could  not  be  confirmed  in  the  post  for  the  next 
year,  nor  for  the  five  following  years  ;  neither  himself,  nor  any  of 
his  relations,  could  hold  any  office,  dignity,  or  honors,  in  the  city 
of  Padua;  and  this  was  understood  of  the  assessors,  lieutenants 
of  police,  and  other  officers.  But  this  statute  was  very  often  not 
observed.  As  population  augmented,  and  causes  and  controver 
sies  multiplied,  and,  therefore,  the  podesta  and  his  assessors  could 
not  determine  the  whole,  certain  other  judges  were  instituted, 
and  called  Judges  of  the  Lower  Courts,  and  were  distinguished 
from  each  other  by  the  names  of  animals,  for  the  most  part,  as 


472  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

the  bear,  the  horse,  the  leopard,  and  others.  For  the  suits  arising 
between  relations,  two  judges  were  instituted  as  arbitrators,  who, 
in  the  space  of  two  months,  were  to  give  sentence,  and  terminate 
the  controversy.  And  if  they  could  not  agree,  they  called  in  ten 
jurors  for  each  party  ;  and  if  these  disagreed,  the  podesta  him 
self,  in  the  space  of  fifteen  days,  sat  in  judgment  with  the  rest, 
and  decided  the  cause. 

luAs  to  the  government  of  the  territory,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  some  of  the  most  rich  and  powerful  citizens  of  Padua  had 
the  name  of  proceres,  noblemen  or  barons,  and  in  some  of  their 
landed  estates  and  places  they  exercised  the  jurisdiction  of  blood, 
that  is,  the  power  of  life  and  death ;  and  to  ennoble  their  do 
minions,  manors,  or  lordships,  with  the  magnificence  of  titles,  in 
the  year  1196,  they  distinguished  themselves  into  marquises, 
counts,  and  castellans.  The  lords  of  Este  were  entitled  mar 
quises  ;  the  lords  of  Anguillara,  Abano,  Arqua,  Baone,  Bibano, 
Borgoricco,  Calaone,  Rusta  and  Cerro,  Calcinara,  Caldenazzo, 
Candiana,  Carturo,  Castelnuovo,  Cortaloro,  Fontaniva,  Honara, 
Limena,  Lozzo,  Montebello,  Montebuso,  Montemerlo  and  Man- 
dria,  Nono,  and  Piazzola,  were  called  counts ;  the  lords  of  Car 
rara,  Camposanpiero,  Montagnone,  Peraga,  Pievedisacco,  Pub- 
lica,  Revolone,  Ronchi  de'  Campanili,  Stra,  Selvazzano,  Tertula, 
Tribano  and  Galzignano,  Noventa,  Treville,  and  Villa  Nova, 
were  denominated  castellans.  But  the  Castellan  of  Selvazzano 
having  caused  the  eyes  of  a  certain  woman  to  be  put  out  for  theft, 
who  afterwards  came,  deprived  of  her  eyes,  to  Padua,  the  cruelty 
of  this  action  displeased  the  republic  so  much  that,  in  the  year 
1200,  a  law  was  made,  that  under  pain  of  death,  no  man  should, 
for  the  future,  exercise  any  jurisdiction  in  the  territory  of  Padua ; 
which  law  was  reenacted  and  confirmed  in  1205.  The  jurisdic 
tion  of  life  and  death,  and  all  other  jurisdiction,  being  taken  away 
from  these  grandees,  (magnati,)  the  whole  territory  was  governed 
by  the  Podesta  of  Padua ;  and  afterwards,  in  the  course  of  time, 
the  republic  of  Padua  sent  a  podesta  into  the  following  districts 
of  land,  namely, —  Conselve,  Lonigo,  Montagnana,  and  twenty- 
four  other  districts.  The  custom  of  sending  podestas  into  those 
districts  continued  till  1290,  when  a  statute  was  made,  that 
places  which  were  not  walled  should  not  have  a  podesta,  but 
that  into  some  of  them  vicars  only  should  be  sent. 

i  Cap.  v. 


PADUA.  473 

"  Such,  then,  was  the  government  of  Padua,  from  the  year 
1194  to  the  tyranny  of  Ezzelino,  mixed  of  monarchy  and  a  re 
public,  and  this  constitution  was  restored  after  the  delivery  of 
the  city  from  that  fierce  and  cruel  oppression,  and  lasted  happily 
for  fifty  years,  with  a  remarkable  increase  of  the  city  in  riches 
and  power ;  and  it  would  have  lasted  much  longer,  if  the  cursed 
factions  of  Ghibellines  and  Guelphs  had  not  disturbed  the  peace 
of  the  citizens,  which  afterwards,  by  little  and  little,  after  the 
fashion  of  poison,  creeping  in  their  hearts,  afflicted  the  city  to 
such  a  degree  that,  at  last,  in  the  year  1318,  it  took  away  their 
vital  spirits,  depriving  them  of  their  beloved  liberty. 

"  The  parties  of  Ghibellines  and  Guelphs,  under  the  names  of 
the  Empire  and  the  Church,  sown  in  the  hearts  of  men  by  the 
enemy  of  the  human  race,  had  poisoned  Italy,  and  distempered 
the  city  of  Padua." 

So  says  the  historian ;  and,  without  denying  to  the  devi]  his 
share  in  the  instigation  of  all  such  party  distinctions  and  ani 
mosities,  it  must  be  still  insisted  on,  that  the  essential  defect  in 
the  constitution  of  every  Italian  republic  was  the  greatest  cause, 
and  the  instrument  with  which  the  infernal  agent  wrought.  The 
parties  of  rich  and  poor,  of  gentlemen  and  sirnplemen,  unba 
lanced  by  some  third  power,  will  always  look  out  for  foreign  aid, 
and  never  be  at  a  loss  for  names,  pretexts,  and  distinctions. 
Whig  and  Tory,  Constitutionalist  and  Republican,  Anglomane 
and  Francomane,  Athenian  and  Spartan,  will  serve  the  purpose 
as  well  as  Guelph  and  Ghibelline.  The  great  desideratum  in  a 
government  is  a  distinct  executive  power,  of  sufficient  strength 
and  weight  to  compel  both  these  parties,  in  turn,  to  submit  to 
the  laws. 

"  The  mischiefs  of  these  contagious  parties  were  greatest  un 
der  the  tyranny  of  Ezzelino,  who,  being  standard-bearer  and 
head  of  the  Imperial  or  Ghibelline  party,  exerted  all  his  force  to 
extirpate  the  Guelph  party,  followed  by  the  people  and  a  great 
part  of  the  patricians.  After  his  death,  the  Guelph  party  rose, 
and  with  all  their  power  persecuted  the  Ghibellines,  driving  them 
from  the  city,  and  spoiling  them  of  all  their  goods ;  and,  as  the 
plebeians  of  Padua  were  devoted  to  the  Guelph  party,  whether 
from  their  natural  inclinations,  or  because  the  Guelphs  had  de 
livered  the  city  from  the  empire  of  Ezzelino,  upon  this  occasion 
certain  profligate  popular  men,  made  through  their  favor  heads 
40* 


474  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

of  the  Guelph  faction,  became  proud,  arrogant,  and  presumptu 
ous,  desiring  that  all  the  affairs  of  the  republic  should  depend 
upon  their  will ;  but  suspecting  that  some  of  the  principal  gen 
tlemen,  to  whom,  although  Guelphs,  so  much  pride  had  become 
disgusting,  would  oppose  their  ambitious  enterprises,  they  gave 
the  plebeians  to  understand,  that  those  gentlemen  intended  to 
make  themselves  sole  masters  of  the  government.  So  great  a  com 
motion  was  excited,  that  the  plebeians,  who,  servile  in  adverse 
fortune,  as  insolent  in  prosperity,  demanded  in  a  turbulent  man 
ner,  and  obtained  by  threats  of  force,  the  institution  of  a  magis 
trate,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Roman  republic,  like  a  tri 
bune  of  the  people,  (the  Paduans  called  these  magistrates  Gas- 
taldi  deW  Arti,)  who  should  defend  the  rights  of  the  plebeians, 
and  have  authority  to  rescind  all  those  determinations  of  the 
senate,  (as  was  the  custom  in  Rome,)  which  could  occasion  any 
prejudice  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  plebeians.  Wherefore,  in 
testimony  of  the  power  granted  to  the  tribunes,  it  was,  in  1293, 
ordained  by  a  decree  of  the  senate,  that  every  podesta,  in  the 
beginning  of  his  administration,  should  consign  to  each  of  the 
gastaldi  of  the  arts  the  standard  of  that  art ;  and  this  tribunitian 
magistracy  advancing  every  day  in  power,  caused  to  be  made  in 
its  favor,  in  the  year  1296,  a  statute,  that,  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
every  month,  the  gastaldi  should  all  assemble  in  the  church  of 
the  palace  of  the  commons,  and  treat  fully  of  ah1  things  that  be 
longed  to  the  state  of  the  city. 

"  The  whole  government  of  the  city,  by  this  alteration,  de 
volved  into  the  hands  of  the  tribunes ;  because,  as  has  been  said 
before,  they  annulled  or  confirmed  at  their  pleasure,  the  determi 
nations  of  the  greater  council ;  and  because  they  carried  up  to 
the  council  whatever  they  had  concluded  among  themselves, 
with  a  certainty  of  obtaining  their  concurrence,  by  the  depend 
ence  which  they  had  upon  the  popular^  senators,  and  also  upon 
the  less  powerful  of  the  noble  senators,  whose  devotion  they  had 
secured  by  electing  them  to  the  honors  of  the  city,  and  by  assum 
ing  some  of  them  into  the  number  of  the  tribunes,  from  which 
magistracy,  as  universally  from  all  the  greater  honors,  they  always 
most  arbitrarily  excluded  the  most  powerful. 

"  From  this  disorderly  and  violent  domination  of  the  tribunes, 

1  "popolari"  "  of  the  popular  party." 


PADUA.  475 

who  had,  for  the  most  part,  greatly  enriched  themselves,  grew 
intestine  hatreds  and  terrible  seditions  between  the  first  class  of 
persons  and  the  heads  of  the  popular  party,  with  whom  the  pa 
tricians  of  middling  power,  exalted  by  the  people  to  honors, 
joined.  And,  finally,  some  of  the  gentlemen  and  most  powerful 
patricians,  not  being  able  any  longer  to  bear  to  be  neglected  by 
the  tribunitian  power,  took  up  arms,  killed  the  principal  heads 
and  defenders  of  the  plebeians,  and  so  far  intimidated  those  pa 
tricians  who  adhered  to  the  plebeians,  that,  after  many  engage 
ments,  and  a  profuse  effusion  of  blood,  the  tribuneship  of  the 
people  was  abolished  in  the  year  1314,  and  the  government  and 
the  public  authority  were  transferred  to  the  patricians,  excluding 
totally  the  plebeians.  These,  in  order  to  keep  down  the  Ghibel- 
lines,  increased  the  senate  (which,  from  the  time  of  the  extinc 
tion  of  the  house  of  Honara,  had  been  only  of  three  hundred 
members)  to  the  number  of  a  thousand,  incorporating  seven 
hundred  Guelphs ;  and,  wishing  that  all  questions  and  matters 
relative  to  peace  or  war  should  depend  wholly  on  the  Guelph 
faction,  and  the  better  to  establish  the  superiority  of  their  party, 
they  instituted  another  council,  wholly  of  Guelphs,  which  had 
authority  to  approve  or  reject  the  decrees  of  the  greater  senate. 
From  the  body  of  this  lesser  council  were  created  the  four  anziani, 
conservators  of  liberty,  and  eight  secretaries  for  the  care  of  the 
city.  This  mode  of  government  continued  till  the  year  1318, 
when  Padua  began  to  lose  her  liberty,  which  she  afterwards 
wholly  lost,  remaining  subject  sometimes  to  the  Germans,  some 
times  to  the  Scaligeri,  sometimes  to  the  Carrari,  until,  finally, 
after  infinite  calamities,  she  was  benignly  received  into  the  pious 
bosom  of  the  most  serene  republic  of  Venice,  in  the  year  1405."  * 
Such,  as  has  been  related,  were  the  vicissitudes  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  city  of  Padua  after  the  tyranny  of  Ezzelino,  which 
may  be  recapitulated  thus.  According  to  the  historian,  at  first, 
it  was  a  mixture  of  monarchy  and  a  republic ;  afterwards  it  was 
changed  into  a  democracy,  for  such  he  denominates  the  tribune- 
ship  of  the  plebeians,  in  which  the  people  attempted  the  abase 
ment  and  annihilation  of  the  grandees ;  and,  finally,  it  termi 
nated  in  a  government  mixed*  of  monarchy  and  aristocracy, 
having  the  senate  of  the  optimates,  and  creating  the  podesta  an- 

*  Laugier,  vol.  v.  p.  236. 


476  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

nually ;  for  the  major  part  of  the  time,  from  1081  to  1318,  it  was 
governed  by  one  or  other  of  the  two  best  species  of  mixed  go 
vernment,  as  our  historian  thought,  which  are  composed  of  mo 
narchy  and  aristocracy,  and  of  monarchy  and  a  republic.1 

This  sovereignty  of  Padua  was,  for  the  most  part,  in  one  as 
sembly  ;  for,  although  a  check  was  aimed  at  by  the  law,  that 
nothing  should  be  done  in  the  great  council,  which  had  not  been 
previously  debated  in  the  little  council,  yet,  when  any  thing  was 
proposed  by  the  latter  to  the  former,  they  sat  together  and  voted 
as  one  assembly.  At  some  times  the  sovereignty  was  clearly  in 
one  assembly  of  optimates  or  patricians ;  at  another,  in  one  as 
sembly  of  plebeians,  as  that  of  the  tribunes  was.  At  last,  two 
assemblies  were  formed,  with  each  a  negative ;  but  there  being 
no  third  power  to  mediate  between  them,  no  balance  could  be 
formed  or  maintained  between  them.  At  no  time  had  the  mo 
narchical  power,  either  under  the  consuls,  anziani,  or  podestas,  a 
negative ;  for,  though  the  podesta  was  an  office  of  great  dignity 
and  splendor,  he  never  had  the  whole  executive  power,  nor  a 
negative  on  the  legislative.  The  nobles  and  commons  were 
mixed  together  in  both  councils  ;  and  the  executive  power,  the 
appointment  of  officers,  &c.  was  always  in  one  or  other  of  the 
assemblies  ;  and  the  consequence  was  instability  to  the  laws, 
insecurity  to  life,  liberty,  and  property ;  constant  rivalry  between 
the  principal  families,  particularly  the  Scaligeri  and  Carrari,  which 
ended  in  conquest  and  subjection  to  Venice. 

From  1103  to  1194,  the  government  of  consuls  continued; 
from  1195  to  1236,  the  government  of  podestas,  under  the  re 
public  of  Padua.  From  1237  to  1256,  the  tyranny  of  Ezzelino 

i  Sismondi  traces  the  vicissitudes  of  the  government  directly  to  the  ill-regu 
lated  impulses  of  the  people. 

"  Les  Padouans,  dans  1'ensemble  de  leur  conduite,  meritoient  souvent  tous  les 
reproches  qu'on  a  faits  aux  democraties  absolues.  Le  senat  meme  etoit  demo- 
cratique,  car  il  etoit  compose  de  mille  citoyens  qu'on  elisoit  chaque  annee ;  et  le 
peuple,  toujours  passion^,  n'agissoit  point  avec  suite,  ou  d'apres  les  regies  qu'- 
auroit  prescrites  la  prudence  la  plus  commune.  Une  jalousie  violente  lui 
faisoit  ecarter  du  gouvernement  les  nobles,  qui,  par  leurs  richesses,  leurs  talens, 
leur  courage,  et  1'illustration  de  leur  nom,  auroient  donne  du  relief  a  I'adminis- 
tration ;  une  prevention  non  moins  deraisonnable  lui  faisoit  Conner  aveuglement 
une  autorite  dangereuse  £  une  seule  de  ces  families  nobles,  celle  qui,  plus  qu'au- 
cune  autre,  auroit  merite  sa  jalousie,  et  qui  en  restoit  seule  exempte,  la  maison 
de  Carrara.  Les  plus  legers  succes  inspiroient  a  ce  peuple  une  presomption  iu- 
sensee,  et  un  orgueil  ridicule ;  les  plus  legers  revers  abattoient  son  courage,  et 
le  disposoient  a  se  sournettre  aux  dernieres  humiliations." 

Rip.  Ital,  tome  iv.  p.  382. 


PADUA.  477 

was  supported.  From  1257  to  1294,  the  government  of  podes 
tas,  under  the  republic,  was  revived  and  maintained.  From  1295 
to  1311,  they  had  two  podestas.  In  1312,  Gerardo  de  gP  Inzola 
da  Parma  was  imperial  vicar  for  the  Emperor  Henry  VII.,  to 
whom  the  Paduans  began  to  yield  obedience ;  though  they  re 
belled  again  this  year  against  his  authority,  and  the  podestas  and 
republic  were  revived  and  continued  till  1318,  in  which  year 
Giacomo  Grande  da  Carrara  was  made  the  first  Lord  of  Padua. 
He  governed  one  year  and  three  months,  and  then  renounced 
the  dominion,  and  died  in  1324.  In  1319,  a  podesta  again  for 
one  year.  In  1320,  the  city  of  Padua,  to  deliver  itself  from  the 
siege  of  Cane  Scaligero,  Lord  of  Verona,  gave  itself  to  Frede 
ric  III.,  Emperor  and  Duke  of  Austria,  who  afterwards  gave  it 
to  his  brother  Henry,  Duke  of  Carinthia,  under  whom  they  were 
governed  by  podestas,  who  were,  at  the  same  time,  imperial 
vicars,  till  1328.  The  podesta  of  this  year  was  dismissed  by 
Marsilio  da  Carrara,  who  had  been  elected  by  the  people  Lord 
of  Padua,  who,  however,  made  Pietro  de  i  Rossi,  of  Parma, 
podesta ;  but  he,  not  being  able  longer  to  resist  in  the  war  with 
Cane  della  Scala,  married  Tadea,  daughter  of  Giacomo  Grande 
da  Carrara,  first  Lord  of  Padua,  to  Mastino  dalla  Scala,  nephew 
of  Cane,  giving  him  Padua  in  dower.  From  1329  to  1337,  Pa 
dua  was  governed  by  podestas,  under  the  dominion  of  the  Scali- 
gers.  In  1337,  Marsilio  da  Carrara,  having  expelled  the  Scali- 
gers,  was  made  the  second  Lord  of  Padua,  and  governed  in  1338. 
In  1338,  Marsilio  da  Carrara,  second  Lord  of  Padua,  died ;  and 
to  him  succeeded  Ubertino  da  Carrara,  third  Lord  of  Padua. 
From  1339  to  1345,  the  government  of  podestas  continued 
under  the  Princes  Carrara.  In  1345,  Ubertino  da  Carrara,  third 
Lord  of  Padua,  being  sick,  caused  to  be  elected  for  his  successor 
Marsilietto  Papafava  da  Carrara,  who  was  the  fourth  Lord  of 
,  Padua,  and  died ;  but  the  same  year,  Marsilietto  was  killed  by 
Giacomo  da  Carrara,  who  became  the  fifth  Lord  of  Padua;  and 
under  him  the  government  of  podestas  continued  till  1350,  when 
Giacomo  da  Carrara,  the  fifth  Lord  of  Padua,  was  assassinated 
by  William  da  Carrara,  a  natural  son  of  Giacomo  Grande,  the 
first  lord ;  to  whom  succeeded  Giacobino  da  Carrara,  his  brother, 
the  sixth  lord,  and  Francesco  da  Carrara,  surnamed  the  Old,  his 
son,  and  seventh  Lord  of  Padua.  Under  these,  the  government 
by  podestas  continued  till  1362,  when  Francesco  da  Carrara  the 


478  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

Old  imprisoned  his  uncle,  Giacobino  da  Carrara,  because  he  had 
conspired  his  death,  and  reigned  lord  alone  till  1388,  when  Fran 
cesco  da  Carrara  renounced  the  dominion  of  this  city  to  his  son, 
Francesco  da  Carrara,  called  the  New,  eighth  and  last  Lord  of 
Padua.  The  same  year,  in  November,  both  the  father  and  the 
son  were  deprived  of  the  government  of  this  state  by  John  Ga- 
leazzo  Visconti,  first  Duke  of  Milan,  who  governed  it  by  podes- 
tas,  for  the  years  1388  and  1389,  when  Francesco  da  Carrara, 
called  the  New,  drove  out  the  people  of  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and 
recovered  Padua  and  its  district,  except  Bossano.  From  1390 
podestas  were  continued  till  1405,  when  the  Carrara  were  con 
quered,  and  Padua  admitted  into  the  republic  of  Venice.  In 
1393,  Francesco  da  Carrara,  surnamed  the  Old,  seventh  Lord  of 
Padua,  died  in  a  prison  in  Monza,  to  which  he  had  been  sent  by 
John  Galeazzo  Visconti,  Duke  of  Milan. 


CHAPTER    TENTH. 

MANTUA MONTEPULCIANO. 

1  concurs  with  Leonardo  Aretino  and  all  the  other 
Italian  writers,  in  his  account  of  the  antiquity,  riches,  and  power 
of  the  Tuscans,  Etruscans,  Etrurians,  Tyrrhenians,  or  Dodeca- 
poli,  (for  by  all  these  names  they  were  known) ;  their  original 
emigration  from  Lydia;  their  government  of  Lucumoni;  their 
twelve  confederated  peoples;  their  subjection,  in  a  course  of 
time,  to  the  Romans,  Goths,  Lombards,  and  Charlemagne,  who, 
for  his  merit,  was,  in  the  year  800,  created  emperor,  with  the 
titles  of  Caesar  and  Augustus,  by  the  Pope  Leo  III.,  who  under 
stood  the  effect  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  of  words  and  titles 
so  anciently  beloved,  as  well  as  dreaded,  in  Italy.  He  gave  him 
also  the  title  of  Great,  which  had  been  before  given  only  to  three 
princes,  Alexander,  Pompey,  and  Constantine.  The  authority 
which  the  Roman  senate  and  people  had  anciently  exercised,  of 
electing  and  confirming  the  emperors,  was  now  by  Charlemagne 
transferred  to  the  Roman  pontificate ;  and,  to  prevent  seditions, 
the  power  of  confirming  the  pontiff  was  given  to  the  emperor ; 
a  promising  alliance ! 

"Afterwards,  Gregory  V.,  in  1002,  ordained  a  constitution, 
which  continues  to  this  time,  that  the  election  of  future  empe 
rors  should  be  free  in  the  power  of  the  Germans,  and  the  eccle 
siastical  and  temporal  electorates  were  then  created.* 

"  In  1111,  Mantua  fell  into  discords,  threw  off  her  subjection  to 
Matilda,  and  assumed  an  independence ;  but  being  besieged  and 
reduced  to  great  distress,  was  obliged,  in  1114,  to  submit  again 
to  that  princess. 

"  Sigebert,  an  enterprising  man,  took  the  opportunity  of  the 
troubles  in  Italy  to  aggrandize  himself,  and  going  from  Lucca, 
he  made  himself  lord  of  Parma  and  Reggio.  He  was  a  Lom- 

*  Equicola,  p.  25. 

1  Dell'  Istoria  di  Mantova,  libri  cinque.  Scritta  in  Commentari  da  Mario 
Equicola  d'Alveto.  Quarto.  Seconda  impressione,  in  Mantoua,  1610. 


480  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

bard  by  descent,  and  was  prefect  or  lord  of  the  aforesaid  city. 
Sigebert  had  three  sons,  Sigebert  II.,  Atto,  and  Gerardo ;  two  of 
them  died,  and  Atto  alone  remained,  who,  by  the  change  of  the 
letters,  was  afterwards  called  Azzo.  He  fortified  Canossa,  in 
Reggiano,  and  dwelt  there  as  his  principal  seat,  whence  his  de 
scendants  were  called  da  Canossa.  He  had  two  sons,  the  first 
of  whom  was  named  Tedaldo,  and  the  other,  uniting  the  names 
of  his  grandfather  and  father,  was  called  Sigebertazzo,  although 
it  was  afterwards  corruptly  called  Albertazzo.  This  person  was 
sent  into  Germany,  and  recommended  himself  to  Otho  the  em 
peror  so  effectually,  as  to  obtain  a  grant  for  his  services  of  Ca- 
laone,  Monselice,  Montagnana,  Arqui,  and  Este,  with  the  title 
of  marquis.  He  married  Alda,  a  natural  daughter  of  the  empe 
ror.  From  this  match  there  issued  two  sons,  Ugo  and  Folco ; 
the  latter  remained  in  Germany  with  his  mother ;  Ugo  came  into 
Italy  with  his  father,  and  succeeded  to  the  lands  above  men 
tioned,  and  to  the  marquisate  of  Este.  From  this  Ugo  are 
descended  the  illustrious  lords  of  the  house  of  Este,  who  reigned 
so  long  in  Ferrara ;  and  from  them  were  descended  the  family 
that  was  called  the  Canossi  of  Verona. 

"  There  were  in  Mantua,  in  1265,  four  most  powerful  families, 
and  four  others  their  adherents,  of  somewhat  less  influence.  The 
Bonacossi  and  Grossolani  inhabited  one  quarter ;  the  Arlotti  and 
the  Poltroni  another ;  these  not  long  before  had  driven  out  the 
Calorosi.  In  a  third  quarter  were  the  Casaloldi  and  those  of 
Riva ;  and  in  the  fourth,  the  Zenacalli  and  the  GafTari." 

The  government  was,  as  in  all  the  other  cities  of  Italy,  in  one 
centre,  a  general  council,  who  first  appointed  consuls,  then  podes- 
tas,  then  gonfaloniers,  captains  of  the  people,  &c.,  which  produced 
the  usual  struggles  for  power. 

"  In  the  year  1266  the  GafTari  entered  into  a  secret  conspiracy 
to  deliver  the  city  of  Mantua  into  the  hands  of  the  Estensi,  Lords 
of  Ferrara.  The  treason  was  discovered  ;  those  who  saved  their 
lives  by  flight  were  banished  forever,  and  the  others  instantly  put 
to  death,  and  the  houses  of  all  who  were  accomplices  or  privy  to 
the  crime  were  burnt  and  demolished.  The  power  of  individual 
citizens  increased  every  day,  and  parties  and  factions  in  conse 
quence.  The  podesta,  though  a  foreigner  was  usually  appoint 
ed  to  that  office,  administered  its  functions  according  to  the  will 
and  pleasure  of  a  small  number  of  the  principal  men.  Justice 


MANTUA.  481 

was  oppressed  by  power,  and  equity  gave  way  to  violence.*  In 
such  a  tumult  of  the  factious,  the  prudent  men  called  a  conven 
tion,  to  deliberate  on  a  new  form  of  government.  Some  were 
for  ephori,  as  in  Sparta ;  others  for  cosmi,  as  in  Crete ;  others  for 
suffetes,  as  in  Carthage  ;  but  the  most  were  for  hypati,  as  in 
Greece,  or  rather  for  two  consuls,  as  in  Rome.  Two  magistrates 
were,  therefore,  created ;  and  that  they  might  be  sure  to  guard 
against  ambition,  they  must  be  chosen  in  rotation  every  six 
months,  two  at  a  time,  from  each  of  the  four  quarters  of  the 
city.  These  were  to  be  called  captains  of  the  people,  and  were 
to  be  the  protectors  of  the  plebeians,  and  defenders  of  their  liber 
ties.  Two  magistrates,  therefore,  from  the  body  of  the  nobility, 
were  elected,  in  the  nature  of  tribunes  of  the  people,  and  those 
were  Pinamonte,  of  the  family  of  Bonacossi,  and  Ottonello,  of 
that  of  Zenecalli,  in  the  year  1274. 

"  These  had  not  continued  one  month  in  office  together,  before 
such  animosities  arose  between  the  two  families,  that  Zenecalli 
was  treacherously  called  in  the  night  into  the  palace  of  Bona 
cossi,  under  pretence  of  consulting  upon  some  sudden  affair  of 
the  last  importance,  and  there  murdered.  The  next  morning 
Bonacossi  called  together  the  principal  nobility,  and,  with  ficti 
tious  grief  and  pharisaical  tears,  communicated  the  fact,  and  ex 
horted  the  people  to  revenge,  wishing  that  every  one  might  believe 
that  the  deceased  magistrate  had  been  assaulted  and  put  to  death 
by  some  private  enemy.  An  inquiry  was  ordered,  which  engaged 
so  much  attention,  and  took  up  so  much  time,  that  no  man  spoke 
of  any  successor,  and  therefore  Pinamonte  governed  alone." 

The  scramble  for  power  was  as  yet  altogether  among  the  gen 
tlemen. 

"  Benvenuto  da  Imola,  in  his  Commentaries  upon  Dante, 
where  he  discourses  of  Mantua,  writes,  that  this  city  had  been 
inhabited  by  gentlemen  of  Riva,  of  Mercaria,  and  of  the  Casa- 
loldi;  and  that  Bonacossi  had  agreed  with  these  houses  to  expel 
from  the  city  every  other  nobleman ;  and  that  afterwards,  form 
ing  a  particular  agreement  with  two  of  them,  he  drove  out  the 
third;  and  then  uniting  with  the  Casaloldi,  he  banished  the 

*  Cresceva  ogni  di  piti  la  potenza  de'  particolari,  &  augumentavansi  le  fattioni 
&  parti.  II  podesta,  quale  forastiere  si  soleva  creare,  ad  arbitrio  di  alcuni  pochi 
amministrava  it  suo  officio ;  la  giustitia  dalla  forza  era  conculcata,  &  1'equita  ce 
de  va  alia  violenza.  Commentari  Mantouani,  di  Equicola,  pp.  47,  48. 

VOL.  V.  41  E2 


482  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

second;  and,  finally,  driving  out  the  Casaloldi,  he  remained 
alone,  and,  by  artifice  assisted  with  force,  continued  without  a 
colleague  in  the  magistracy ;  and  taking  for  his  podesta  Alberto 
della  Scala,  for  a  stricter  union  he  obtained  the  place  of  podesta 
in  Verona  for  Giannino  de'  Bonacossi,  not  failing  to  maintain  a 
good  intelligence  with  the  Marquis  of  Este.  By  all  these  ar 
rangements  he  easily  obtained  from  his  followers  the  prolonga 
tion  of  his  own  power  for  another  six  months;  and  when  he  had 
thus  laid  his  foundations  sufficiently  strong  to  support  any  edi 
fice,  he  assumed  the  title  of  captain-general.  These  encroach 
ments  were  very  uneasily  supported  by  the  nobles,  who  perceived 
that  from  free  citizens  they  were  become,  by  little  and  little,  the 
subjects  of  a  tyrant.  Whereupon  the  Arlotti,  the  Casaloldi,  the 
Agnelli,  and  the  Grossolani,  conspired  together  to  throw  off  the 
yoke ;  but  Pinamonte,  being  informed  of  the  plot  on  the  very 
day  on  which  it  was  to  have  been  executed,  and  being  well  pre 
pared,  fell  unexpectedly  on  the  conspirators  separately,  a  part  of 
whom  he  took  prisoners  ;  others  were  killed,  many  wounded,  and 
the  great  multitude  saved  themselves  by  flight.  Many  suspected 
persons  were  sent  out  of  their  beloved  home,  and  confined  in 
various  places.  Pinamonte  did  not  cease  to  persecute  his  adver 
saries,  until  all  things  in  the  city  appeared  to  be  quieted  under 
his  dominion. 

"  The  miserable  Mantuans  were  dispersed  in  various  places, 
and  particularly  in  Gonzaga;  but  the  tyrant  had  the  art  to  hold 
out  temptations  of  lands,  restitution  of  property,  and  restoration 
to  their  country,  to  these,  till  they  surrendered  to  him  that  Gon 
zaga,  which  had  often  defended  itself  both  against  popes  and 
emperors.  Pinamonte  then  established  a  friendship  with  Venice 
and  Padua,  but  was  interrupted  in  his  career,  in  1289,  by  death." 

The  family  of  Bonacossi,  with  Pinamonte  at  their  head,  had, 
by  forming  a  popularity  among  the  vilest  plebeians,  been  able  to 
expel  the  other  noble  families,  and  make  themselves  absolute. 
So  complete  was  their  ascendency  over  the  minds  of  the  rabble, 
that,  upon  the  death  of  Pinamonte,  the  minority  were  not  able 
to  obtain  any  regular  election  or  rational  reform  of  the  govern 
ment;  but, 

"  Bardello  Bonacossi  was  set  up  by  his  party  for  a  successor, 
a  man  universally  hated,  a  monster  without  virtue,  wholly  with 
out  capacity,  insolent,  without  judgment  or  experience ;  equally 


MANTUA.  483 

ignorant  and  arrogant,  vile  and  suspicious,  yet  credulous,  and  a 
slave  to  adulation ;  devoted  to  cruelty  and  lust.  This  pestife 
rous  tyrant  governed  in  Mantua  five  years,  according  to  Platina; 
but  the  plebeians  themselves  could  bear  him  no  longer,  and  set 
up  another  of  the  same  family  against  him.  Bottigella  Bona- 
cossi  with  little  difficulty  was  able  to  expel  him,  and  Tamo,  his 
brother,  one  of  whom  died  miserably  at  Padua,  and  the  other  at 
Ferrara." 

We  pass  over  the  actions  of  Bottigella,  and  his  wars  with 
Cremona  and  with  Azzo  of  Este,  &c.  In  1308,  Bottigella  died, 
as  well  as  his  enemy  Azzo ;  to  the  latter  succeeded  his  son  Flisco, 
and  to  the  former  Passarino,  his  brother;  for  this  plebeian  ty-* 
ranny  was  already  become  hereditary  in  the  family.  Although 
the  government  of  Passarino  was  not  remarkable  for  folly  or 
severity,  yet  Luigi  Gonzaga,  who  had  connected  himself  in 
marriage  with  the  Bonacossi,  being  a  man  of  abilities,  and 
knowing  the  general  discontent  of  the  people,  and  the  universal 
hatred  of  the  nobility  against  that  family,  entered  into  concert 
with  some  of  the  neighboring  lords,  as  Cane  della  Scala,  &c., 
found  little  difficulty  to  depose  and  expel  Passarino,  put  him  to 
death,  and  reign  in  his  stead.  The  family  of  the  Gonzaghi 
were  named  from  the  place  of  their  ancient  residence,  which 
was  Gonzaga.  A  multitude  of  conjectures  and  fables,  collected 
from  various  authors,  concerning  the  origin  of  this  family,  we 
pass  over.  Guido  Gonzaga,  who  fought  against  Manfred,  King 
of  Naples,  had  five  sons,  the  first  of  whom  was  Luigi,  the 
author  and  founder  of  the  lordship  and  marquisate  of  Mantua. 

In  1328,  it  is  said,  that  "  by  the  consent  of  the  people,  accord 
ing  to  the  laws  and  good  custom,  one  was  elected,  after  the 
death  of  Passarino,  to  whom,  and  to  his  successors,  the  whole 
empire  was  given  for  perpetuity,  as  was  usual  in  the  heroic 
times.  The  Mantuans  reasoned  in  this  manner:  The  mode  of 
making  a  commonwealth  perpetual,  or  of  any  long  duration,  is 
by  prudence,  which  disposes  and  rules  with  manly  energy,  as 
well  as  with  wise  discernment.  This  can  alone  be  performed  in 
a  state  by  means  of  justice,  which  distributes  to  every  one  his 
deserts;  to  the  good,  rewards  and  honors;  to  the  wicked,  punish 
ment  and  infamy.  As  the  virtue  of  clemency  is  the  daughter  of 
magnanimity,  and  participates  of  divinity,  we  always  applaud 
it  when  it  extends  only  to  offences  committed  against  ourselves ; 


484  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

and  it  is  commended  in  princes  whenever  pardon  and  mercy 
cannot  cause  an  injury  to  the  public,  and  give  insolence  to  the 
daring  to  rise  against  the  laws.  It  should  be  a  pleasure  to 
princes  to  remit  private  injuries ;  but  skilful  in  the  healing  art, 
they  should  not  be  so  partially  compassionate  as  to  heal  one 
wound  at  the  hazard  of  destroying  the  whole  body.  The  liberty 
of  the  people  consists  in  two  things,  in  the  laws  and  the  tribu 
nals  ;  when  these  prevail  in  a  city,  without  favor,  respect,  or  par 
tiality,  that  city  and  its  citizens  are  free. 

Upon  these  principles  the  Mantuans,  finding  that  liberty  never 
had  been  enjoyed  by  them  under  their  uncouth  government  of  a 
*  republic,  strange  to  relate !  adopted  voluntarily  an  absolute  mo 
narchy.  Louis  Gonzaga  was  elected  and  constituted  upon  these 
principles  and  for  these  reasons,  and  began  his  reign  by  an  assi 
duous  attention  to  the  revival  of  laws  which  had  been  trampled 
under  foot,  and  by  a  diligent  solicitude  that  all  the  good  customs 
should  be  observed  with  equality.  And  this  is  sufficient  for 
another  example  of  the  struggles  of  a  few  families,  in  an  unba 
lanced  government,  for  preeminence,  and  of  the  final  triumph  of 
the  Gonzaghi  over  the  Bonacossi,  in  a  monarchy  erected  on  the 
ruins  of  a  republic. 

MONTEPULCIANO. 

CHIUSI,  the  country  and  residence  of  Porsenna,  the  ancient 
king  to  whom  Tarquin  fled  for  hospitality,  was  one  of  the  most 
ancient  and  powerful  cities  of  Tuscany  or  Etruria.  As  Chiusi 
was  in  a  low  situation  and  a  bad  air,  Porsenna  chose,  for  his 
pleasure  and  his  health,  a  mountain  in  the  neighborhood,  where 
was  a  salubrious  atmosphere  and  an  admirable  prospect ;  an 
ample  plain,  the  lake  of  Thrasimene,  and  the  river  of  Chiane, 
with  hills  and  valleys  loaded  with  every  production  of  the  earth, 
in  grapes,  grains,  and  fruits,  in  the  most  perfect  elegance  and 
abundance,  were  around  it.1 

"  In  after  ages,  upon  a  civil  war  in  Chiusi  between  the  gentle 
men  and  plebeians,  in  which  the  former  were  expelled,  they  re 
tired  to  this  mountain,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Mons  Politicus, 
which  was  corrupted  afterwards,  in  the  vulgar  pronunciation, 
into  Monspolitianus,  and  since  into  Montepulciano.  The  plebei- 

1  Storia  delta  cittci  di  Montepulciano,  di  Spinello  del  Capitano  Marcello  Benci. 
4to.  In  Fiorenza.  1641. 


MONTEPULCIANO.  485 

ans  of  the  same  city  passed  the  river,  took  possession  of  another 
elevated  situation,  where  they  built  a  castle,  and  called  it  Cas- 
trum  Plebis." 

Though  Florence  and  Siena  have,  at  different  times,  pretended 
that  Montepulciano  was  in  their  dominion ;  yet  it  is  certain  that, 
for  three  hundred  years  at  least,  it  was  an  independent  sovereign 
republic.  At  an  expense  of  continual  wars,  it  maintained  its 
liberty.  Its  government  was  by  podestas  and  general  councils 
like  all  the  other  cities ;  and  its  whole  history  is  made  up  of 
revolutions,  from  nobles  to  plebeians,  and  from  plebeians  to 
nobles,  Florence  and  Siena  taking  the  parties  of  opposite  fac 
tions.  Even  in  this  little  village,  there  were  great  families  as  well 
as  little  ones,  the  Guidos,  Ugolinos,  the  Bulgarellos,  and  Klnieri, 
continually  struggling  for  precedence. 

"  In  the  year  1328,  the  Rinieri,  or  rather  the  family  del  Pecora, 
were  accounted  noble,  because  they  were  rich,  and  powerful  in 
followers,  adherents,  and  relations ;  they  had  increased  in  repu 
tation  and  power  to  such  a  degree,  that  they  domineered,  at  their 
discretion,  over  all  their  compatriots.  The  heads  of  the  house 
were  Jacob  and  Nicholas  de'  Cavalieri,  who  governed  in  concur 
rence,  with  prudence  and  good  order,  till  1352,  when  dissensions 
and  discords  began  to  arise  between  them. 

"Jacob  concerted  with  Peter  Sacconi,  who  governed  in  Arezzo, 
a  project  to  make  himself  master  of  Montepulciano ;  but  Nicho 
las,  his  colleague,  revealed  it  to  the  governor  of  the  people,  who 
excited  an  insurrection,  and  expelled  Jacob,  with  twenty  of  his 
followers ;  and  afterwards,  with  the  influence  and  counsels  of 
Nicholas,  the  government  was  reformed,  and  all  the  friends  of 
Jacob  were  excluded  from  any  share  in  it,"  *  according  to  the 
custom  and  nature  of  all  majorities,  when  there  is  no  power  but 
a  minority  to  rebuff  their  pretensions.  "Jacob  then  intrigued 
with  Visconti,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  and  his  allies,  and,  corrupt 
ing  a  notary,  an  officer  on  guard,  broke  down  a  gate  in  the  night, 
entered  with  all  his  men,  and  excited  a  tumult.  Nicholas,  a 
knight  of  great  spirit,  seized  his  arms,  and  mounting  his  horse, 
with  a  few  of  his  companions,  waiting  for  no  further  help,  at 
tacked  the  enemy  with  such  impetuosity  that  they  fled  in  a 
panic.  Jacob,  with  twenty -five  horsemen,  escaped;  the  others 
were  taken,  to  the  number  of  seventy-five,  together  with  the 

*  Matt.  Vill.  lib.  iii.  c.  10,  f.  146,  an.  1352. 
41* 


486  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

notary  and  the  guard.  The  governors  of  the  people  hanged 
thirty,  and  released  the  rest,  having  first  marked  them  forever, 
by  slitting  their  noses  and  cutting  off  their  ears. 

"Jacob  then  fled  to  Siena,  and  there  attempted  to  form  con 
nections  and  obtain  auxiliaries;  and  Nicholas,  and  the  governors 
of  the  people  of  Montepulciano,  applied  to  Perugia.  A  war 
was  excited  between  those  two  cities,  which  was  terminated  by 
ambassadors,  upon  these  conditions,  that  Montepulciano  should 
remain  under  the  government  of  the  people,  under  the  protection 
of  the  commons  of  Siena,  for  twenty  years ;  Jacob  arid  Nicho 
las  were  to  be  indemnified  for  the  expenses,  and  their  estates 
restored,  and  the  commons  of  Florence  and  Perugia  were  to  be 
guarantees.  Tommasi  adds,  that  another  condition  was,  the 
restoration  of  all  the  refugees.* 

"  The  next  year  the  peace  was  broken,  and  Nicholas  sent  into 
banishment ;  but,  collecting  his  friends  without,  and  concerting 
measures  with  his  partisans  within,  he  found  means  to  enter  Mon 
tepulciano,  with  two  hundred  horse  and  five  hundred  foot ;  but  he 
met  with  such  a  resistance  from  his  enemies  in  the  place,  and 
their  Sienese  allies,  that  he  perceived  he  could  not  overcome 
them.  He  therefore  took  the  barbarous  resolution  to  burn  the 
town,  and  retire ;  his  party  set  fire  to  as  many  houses  as  possible, 
and,  while  the  people  and  soldiers  were  intent  upon  preventing 
the  progress  of  the  flames,  he  retreated.  Nicholas  and  Jacob, 
at  length  finding  that  they  gained  nothing  and  lost  much  by  con 
tinual  quarrels,  came  to  an  agreement,  and  solicited  the  emperor 
to  hold  the  government  of  Montepulciano  as  imperial  vicars; 
but  the  people  would  not  admit  them,  because  the  Sienese 
would  not  receive  such  vicars.  This  occasioned  a  fresh  war 
between  the  commons  of  Montepulciano  and  those  of  Siena,  on 
one  side,  and  the  Perugians,  in  conjunction  with  the  Pecora 
family  and  their  adherents,  on  the  other.  In  this  war  a  memo 
rable  battle  was  fought,  and  the  Montepulcians  distinguished 
themselves  by  so  much  valor,  that  the  Perugians  created  four  of 
them  cavaliers,  namely, — John,  the  son  of  Nicholas,  and  Ghe- 
rard,  the  son  of  Jacob,  and  two  of  their  nephews,  Berthold  and 
Corrado,  all  of  the  family  del  Pecora;  and  the  Perugian  con 
querors,  with  their  Montepulcian  cavaliers,  committed  the  cus 
tomary  depredations  and  devastations. 

*  Tom.  lib.  x.  fo.  319,  an.  1353. 


MONTEPULCIAJSTO.  487 

"  The  government  of  the  land  being  in  the  hands  of  the  peo 
ple,  for  the  sake  of  the  public  tranquillity,  Jacob  and  Nicholas 
del  Pecora  remained  abroad  in  banishment,  inhabiting  Valiano, 
a  strong  place,  and  a  plentiful  situation.  The  latter,  knowing 
the  nature  of  the  citizens  of  Montepulciano,  accustomed  to  hope 
more  than  they  ought,  and  to  tolerate  less  than  was  necessary, 
discontented  and  prone  to  novelties,  vacillating  between  the 
commons  of  Siena  and  those  of  Perugia  through  alternate  envy, 
jealousy,  and  resentment,  and  being  never  at  rest,  entered  into  a 
secret  correspondence  with  them,  in  order  to  return  to  his  coun 
try.  His  purpose  was  in  time  accomplished,  and  he  was  joyfully 
received  by  the  people,  and  mutual  forgiveness  of  injuries  and 
affronts  was  stipulated.  Recollecting  that  the  rupture  between 
him  and  Jacob  had  been  the  cause  of  all  the  evils,  he  sent  a  mes 
senger  to  him,  and  a  reconciliation  was  effected  between  them  for 
the  common  benefit  of  their  country.  All  was  now  joy,  friend 
ship,  and  festivity,  in  appearance,  but  the  secret  causes  of  discord 
were  still  at  work,  and  before  the  year  1363  produced  another 
revolution,  and  Nicholas  and  his  friends  were  again  exiled. 

"  Five  years  afterwards  the  exiles  from  Montepulciano,  with 
some  assistance  from  the  grandees  of  Siena,  entered  and  con 
quered  their  country,  and  sent  Jacob,  who  had  made  himself  lord 
and  master,  to  prison.  But  the  plebeians  and  others,  who  had 
been  oppressed  by  him,  and  mortally  hated  him,  could  not  sati 
ate  their  vengeance  merely  by  burning  and  plundering  all  his 
property ;  they  broke  open  his  prison,  and  tore  him  into  pieces 
so  small,  that  no  part  of  his  body  could  ever  be  collected  for 
sepulture.  The  grandees  were  so  transported  with  indignation 
at  this  infamous  barbarity,  that  they  put  to  death  a  great  part  of 
the  plebeians,  and  banished  the  remainder.  They  reformed  the 
government  of  the  land,  however,  into  a  popular  state,  and  ba 
nished  the  Cavalieri  as  rebels." 

Not  to  pursue  this  relation  to  any  greater  length,  it  may  be 
observed  in  general,  that  this  little  hill  maintained  its  independ 
ence  for  three  hundred  years,  by  the  mutual  jealousies  of  Flo 
rence,  Siena,  and  Perugia ;  but  it  was  by  uninterrupted  wars 
with  one  or  the  other  of  them,  all  in  their  turn  seeking  its  alli 
ance  or  subjugation,  and  all  in  their  turn  taking  its  part  when  in 
danger  of  being  subdued  by  any  one.  This  occasioned  a  con 
tinual  vacillation  of  its  friendship  and  enmity  with  those  cities, 


488  ON  GOVERNMENT. 

and  constant  revolutions  of  government  at  home  upon  every 
change.  There  was  no  balance  in  their  government  by  which 
parties  or  powerful  individuals  might  be  restrained,  and  a  few 
families  were  continually  scrambling  for  superiority.  There  were 
no  nobles  by  name,  that  is,  there  were  no  marquises,  counts,  or 
barons ;  but  there  were  gentlemen  and  common  people,  and  the 
gentlemen  were  called  cavaliers,  because  they  could  afford  to 
keep  a  horse,  or  at  most,  three  horses  to  each  man.  The  family 
del  Pecora  was  the  principal  one  of  these  cavaliers,  and  they 
enslaved  their  country  of  course,  as  the  Medici  did  in  Florence. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  that  in  America  we  have  no  distinc 
tions  of  ranks,  and  therefore  shall  not  be  liable  to  those  divisions 
and  discords  which  spring  from  them ;  but  have  we  not  laborers, 
yeomen,  gentlemen,  esquires,  honorable  gentlemen,  and  excellent 
gentlemen  ?  and  are  not  these  distinctions  established  by  law  ? 
have  they  not  been  established  by  our  ancestors  from  the  first 
plantation  of  the  country?  and  are  not  those  distinctions  as  earn 
estly  desired  and  sought,  as  titles,  garters,  and  ribbons  are  in  any 
nation  of  Europe  ?  We  may  look  as  wise,  and  moralize  as 
gravely  as  we  will ;  we  may  call  this  desire  of  distinction  childish 
and  silly;  but  we  cannot  alter  the  nature  of  men;  human  nature 
is  thus  childish  and  silly;  and  its  Author  has  made  it  so,  undoubt 
edly  for  wise  purposes ;  and  it  is  setting  ourselves  up  to  be  wiser 
than  nature,  and  more  philosophical  than  Providence,  to  censure  it. 
All  that  we  can  say  in  America  is,  that  legal  distinctions,  titles, 
powers,  and  privileges,  are  not  hereditary ;  but  that  the  disposi 
tion  to  artificial  distinctions,  to  titles,  and  ribbons,  and  to  the 
hereditary  descent  of  them,  is  ardent  in  America,  we  may  see 
by  the  institution  of  the  Cincinnati.  There  is  not  a  more  re 
markable  phenomenon  in  universal  history,  nor  in  universal  hu 
man  nature,  than  this  order.  The  officers  of  an  army,  who  had 
voluntarily  engaged  in  a  service  under  the  authority  of  the  peo 
ple,  whose  creation  and  preservation  was  upon  the  principle  that 
the  body  of  the  people  were  the  only  fountain  of  power  and  of 
honor;  officers,  too,  as  enlightened  and  as  virtuous  as  ever  served 
in  any  army;  the  moment  they  had  answered  the  end  of  their 
creation,  instituted  titles  and  ribbons,  and  hereditary  descents, 
by  their  own  authority  only,  without  the  consent  or  knowledge 
of  the  people,  or  their  representatives  or  legislatures.  If  these 
gentlemen  had  been  of  opinion  that  titles  and  ribbons  were  ne- 


MONTEPULCIANO.  489 

cessary  in  society,  to  have  been  consistent,  they  should  have  taken 
measures  for  calling  conventions  of  the  people,  where  it  should 
have  been  determined,  first,  whether  any  such  distinction  should 
be  introduced ;  secondly,  how  many  such  orders  ;  thirdly,  what 
number  of  individuals  of  each;  and,  lastly,  there  should  have 
been  in  convention  a  general  election  of  noblemen  for  each  of 
the  thirteen  states.  As  great  injustice  may  be  done  by  giving 
too  much  honor  to  one,  arid  too  little  to  another,  us  by  commit 
ting  trespasses  upon  property,  or  slanders  upon  reputation ;  the 
public  good  requires  justice  in  the  distribution  of  fame  as  well 
as  fortune ;  and  the  public,  or  some  tribunal  erected  by  the  pub 
lic,  can  be  alone  competent  to  the  decision.1 

As  there  is  no  instance  more  parallel  than  this  of  Montepul- 
ciano,  where  the  people  who  owned  horses  agreed  together  to 
call  themselves  cavaliers,  and  thus  created  a  distinct  order  in  the 
state,  this  opportunity  has  been  taken  to  make  an  observation 
upon  an  institution,  which  ought  not  to  be  passed  over  in  con 
sidering  the  subject  of  these  labors.  It  is  greatly  to  be  wished 
that  the  officers  would  voluntarily  discontinue  their  societies, 
and  lay  aside  their  eagles,  which  will  do  them,  as  well  as  the 
community,  much  more  hurt  than  good ;  they  have  already  ex 
cluded  many  excellent  men  from  places  in  civil  life,  to  which 
their  merit  in  other  respects  entitled  them ;  they  have  excited 
disputes  which  are  very  pernicious ;  they  are  founded  on  no 
principle  of  morals,  true  policy,  or  our  own  constitution.2 

1  Of  the  feeling  which  was  excited  throughout  the  country  by  the  establish 
ment  of  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati,  there  is  abundant  proof  in  the  publications 
of  the  time.     The  moderation  of  Washington  in  recommending  a  modification 
of  the  objectionable  features  of  the  institution,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  society  in 
yielding  at  once  to  public  opinion,  smoothed  all  difficulties.     Nevertheless  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  the  institution  ever  had  in  it  the  seeds  of  any  mischief,  for 
it  was  not  based  upon  a  distinction  of  property,  without  which  no  aristocratic 
class  can  really  continue.     The  statute  of  distribution  of  estates  is  the  most  solid 
pillar  of  a  republican  edifice. 

2  This  volume  contains  all  of  that  part  of  the  Defence,  devoted  by  the  author 
to  a  review  of  the  domestic  history  of  some  of  the  Italian  Republics  in  the  Mid 
dle  Ages ;  a  portion  to  the  perusal  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  attach  great  interest, 
and  yet  not  without  its  value  to  those  disposed  to  study  faithfully  the  working  of 
popular  forms  of  government.     M.  de  Sismondi  has  since  given  to  the  public  a 
more  extended  and  perfect  sketch  of  the  Italian  history  for  the  same  period,  and 
has  endeavored  to  analyze  the  causes,  as  well  of  the  prosperity  as  of  the  decline 
of  the  republican  states.     His  hundred  and  twenty-sixth  chapter  is  devoted  to  an 
examination  of  their  ideas  of  liberty,  and  to  a  comparison  of  them  with  those  es 
tablished  at  the  present  day.     He  considers  the  former  as  embraced  in  three  pro 
positions,  which  are  equally  considered  as  axioms  among  the  people  of  the  United 


490  ON   GOVERNMENT. 

States.  The  first  is,  that  all  authority  exercised  over  the  people  emanates  from 
the  people.  Secondly,  That  the  power  conferred  should  return  at  stated  inter 
vals  to  its  source.  Thirdly,  That  the  recipient  of  the  power  must  be  responsi 
ble  to  the  people  for  its  exercise.  These  axioms  M.  de  Sismondi  considers  as 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  great  impulse  given  to  the  energy  and  activity  of 
those  communities  at  that  time. 

But  they  do  not  supply  the  regulating  principle  which  should  have  prevented 
them  from  falling  into  disorders  and  excess.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  no  well 
defined  ideas  of  human  rights  were  entertained  in  any  quarter,  and  consequently 
there  were  no  limitations  of  the  power  of  majorities  over  minorities.  The  histo 
ries  consequently  show  nothing  but  a  series  of  struggles  for  the  control  of  the 
government  between  factions  all  equally  disposed  to  abuse  their  power  whenever 
they  succeeded  in  securing  it.  In  these  contentions  the  safety  and  happiness  of 
the  individual  citizen  were  made  of  no  account.  He  rose  or  fell,  with  the 
success  or  defeat  of  the  faction  to  which  he  attached  himself.  With  such  a  state 
of  things,  continued  for  any  length  of  time,  it  could  not  fail  to  happen  that  a 
great  number  would  gradually  be  led  to  prefer  the  more  durable  authority  ema 
nating  from  the  will  of  one.  It  is,  therefore,  no  great  cause  of  surprise  to  find 
that,  in  course  of  time,  the  people  of  each  separate  city  voluntarily  submitted  to 
the  unrestrained  will  of  some  single  person  powerful  enough  to  compel  the 
maintenance  of  order  for  their  protection. 

To  remedy  the  dangers  attendant  upon  the  arbitrary  use  of  power,  checks, 
however  multiplied,  will  scarcely  avail  without  an  explicit  admission  of  some 
limitation  of  the  right  of  the  majority  to  exercise  sovereign  authority  over  the 
individual  citizen.  The  modern  theory  of  republicanism  rests  upon  the  axioms 
that,  in  the  eye  of  the  state,  certain  natural  rights  belong  equally  to  all  men ; 
and  that  these  rights  cannot  be  annihilated  at  the  mere  pleasure  of  the  greater 
number.  Without  some  such  securities,  there  is  no  protection  from  social 
tyranny,  whatever  may  be  the  form  it  takes.  In  popular  governments,  minorities 
constantly  run  much  greater  risk  of  suffering  from  arbitrary  power  than  in  abso 
lute  monarchies.  For  the  majority  which  wield  the  power  against  the  smaller 
number,  at  the  same  time  create  the  public  sentiment  that  will  sustain  them,  at 
least  for  the  moment,  in  a  despotic  act ;  whereas,  under  single  rulers,  although 
individual  cases  of  oppression  are  more  likely  to  happen,  public  opinion  will 
yet  be  left  free  to  censure  or  correct  them.  The  only  cure  for  this  is  in  the 
recognition  of  the  right  of  every  individual  citizen  to  complete  protection,  so  long 
as  he  conducts  himself  like  a  good  citizen.  Hence  spring  all  the  safeguards 
so  carefully  introduced  into  the  constitutions  and  the  declarations  of  rights  in 
America,  which  are,  however,  after  all  dependent  for  their  force  mainly  upon 
the  establishment  of  a  sound  public  opinion.  The  use  of  checks  and  balances  in 
the  forms  of  government,  is  to  create  delays  and  multiply  diversities  of  interests, 
by  which  the  tendency  on  a  sudden  to  violate  them  may  be  counteracted.  In 
the  cities  of  Italy,  there  was  no  effective  barrier  between  the  passions  of  the 
majority  and  their  object,  but  physical  force.  Hence  the  minority  was  always 
driven  to  violence  to  protect  itself. 

It  is  a  little  singular  that  the  course  of  education  generally  pursued  in  Ame 
rica,  especially  among  those  destined  to  make  and  to  expound  the  laws,  should 
be  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  those  precedents  in  history 
in  which  the  inequality  of  ranks  is  an  acknowledged  and  vital  element ;  whilst 
very  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  observation  of  those  phenomena  which 
the  legislation  and  the  social  systems,  by  analogy  most  nearly  approximating  our 
own,  almost  uniformly  present.  It  must  be  conceded  that,  as  yet,  philosophical 
generalization  upon  abstract  questions  of  the  highest  class  is  not  the  character 
istic  of  the  American  mind.  But  the  time  may  come  when  it  will  be  pushed  to 
a  higher  point  in  some  departments  connected  with  practical  results  than  has 
yet  been  anywhere  reached. 


APPENDIX. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

THE  following  was  appended  to  the  first  volume  of  the  original  edition  of  the 
Defence,  which  made  its  appearance  alone.  As  it  seems  to  have  no  necessary 
connection  with  that  place,  it  has  been  transferred  to  this,  where  it  seems  equally 
appropriate,  and  where  it  serves  more  nearly  to  equalize  the  size  of  the  volumes. 

THE  foreign  gazettes  and  journals  have  announced  to  the  world  that  the  Abb6 
De  Mably  was  applied  to  by  the  United  States  of  America  for  his  advice  and 
assistance  in  the  formation  of  a  code  of  laws.1  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  any  thing 
to  this,  only  that  it  is  a  part  of  a  million  volumes  of  lies,  according  to  the  best 
computation,  which  are  to  be  imposed  upon  posterity,  relative  to  American  aifairs. 
The  Abbe  himself,  in  his  observations,  has  said  that  I  desired  his  sentiments. 
This  is  true  ;  but  the  manner  of  the  request  ought  to  be  known,  that  those  who 
think  it  of  any  consequence  may  understand  in  what  sense  it  is  true.  Upon  my 
arrival  in  Paris,  in  October,  1782,  upon  the  business  of  the  peace,  the  Abbe  de 
Mably 's  book,  upon  the  manner  of  writing  history,  was  put  into  my  hands.  At 
the  conclusion  of  that  publication,  he  declared  his  intention  of  writing  on  the 
American  Revolution.  Meeting  the  Abbe  soon  afterwards,  at  dinner,  at  Mon 
sieur  De  Chalut's,  the  farmer-general,  my  friends,  the  Abbes  De  Chalut  and 
Arnoux,  who  were  of  the  party,  informed  me  that  their  friend  was  about  writing 
the  history  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  would  be  obliged  to  me  for  any  facts 
or  memorials  that  might  be  in  my  power.  The  question  was  asked,  What  part 
of  the  revolution  he  intended  to  write  ?  The  whole.  Where  had  he  obtained 
the  materials  ?  It  was  supposed  they  might  be  obtained  from  the  public  papers, 
and  inquiry  of  individuals.  In  answer  to  this  a  few  difficulties  were  started,  and 
the  conversation  spun  into  length.  At  last  the  gentlemen  asked  to  have,  in  writ 
ing,  what  had  been  then  said  upon  the  subject,  as,  the  conversation  being  in 

1  This  statement  is  made  by  Baron  de  Grimm  in  his  Literary  Correspondence 
for  the  month  of  January,  1783,  and  corrected  in  his  review  of  de  Mably's  "  Ob 
servations  sur  le  Gouvernement  et  les  Lois  des  Etats-Unis  d'Amerique"  in  October, 
1784.  The  story  was  revived  in  some  of  the  American  newspapers  in  1816, 
which  drew  from  the  author  a  note  to  the  editor  of  the  North  American  Review, 
inclosing  a  copy  in  English  of  the  letter  to  the  Abbe  de  Mably,  and  both  were 
published  in  that  Magazine  for  the  month  of  November,  1816,  together  with  two 
notes  of  acknowledgment,  one  from  the  Abbe  himself,  and  the  other  from  Mar- 
montel,  which  are  now  appended. 


492  APPENDIX. 

French  it  might  not  have  been  fully  comprehended.  Accordingly,  in  a  few  days, 
I  wrote  the  Abbe  a  letter,  the  translation  of  which,  by  a  friend,  into  French,  is 
here  inclosed  ;  the  original,  in  English,  not  being  in  my  possession:  By  this  it  will 
be  seen,  that  the  request  to  the  Abbe  to  write  upon  American  affairs,  was  a  mere 
civility ;  and  rather  a  desire  that  he  would  not  expose  himself,  by  attempting  a 
history  that  he  was  altogether  unprovided  for,  than  any  formal  request  that  he 
should  write  at  all.  We  ought  to  be  obliged  to  any  gentleman  in  Europe  who 
will  favor  us  with  his  thoughts ;  but,  in  general,  the  theory  of  government  is  as 
well  understood  in  America  as  it  is  in  Europe ;  and  by  great  numbers  of  indi 
viduals  is  every  thing  relating  to  a  free  constitution  infinitely  better  compre 
hended  than  by  the  Abbe  De  Mably  or  M.  Turgot,  amiable,  learned,  and  inge 
nious  as  they  were.1 


TO    THE    ABBE    DE    MABLY. 

IT  is  with  pleasure  that  I  have  learned  your  design  to  write  upon  the  American 
Revolution ;  because  your  other  writings,  which  are  much  admired  by  Americans, 
contain  principles  of  legislation,  policy,  and  negotiation,  which  are  perfectly 
analogous  to  their  own ;  so  that  you  cannot  write  upon  this  subject,  without 
producing  a  work  instructive  to  the  public,  and  especially  to  my  fellow-citizens. 

But  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  not  accuse  me  of  presumption,  of  affectation,  or  of 
singularity,  if  I  venture  to  express  my  opinion,  that  it  is  yet  too  soon  to  under 
take  a  complete  history  of  that  great  event;  and  that  there  is  no  man,  either 
in  America  or  Europe,  at  this  day,  capable  of  performing  it,  or  who  is  in  posses 
sion  of  the  materials  requisite  and  necessary  for  that  purpose. 

To  engage  in  such  a  work,  the  writer  ought  to  divide  the  history  of  America 
into  several  periods. 

1.  From  the  first  establishment  of  the  Colonies,  in  1600,  to  the  commence 
ment  of  their  disputes  with  Great  Britain,  in  1761. 

2.  From  the  commencement  of  those  disputes  in  1761,  occasioned  by  an  order 
of  the  board  of  trade  and  plantations  in  Great  Britain,  sent  to  the  officers  of  the 
customs  in  America,  to  carry  into  execution  in  the  strictest  manner  the  acts  of 
trade,  and  to  apply  to  the  courts  of  judicature  for  writs  of  assistance  for  that  pur 
pose,  to  the  commencement  of  hostilities  on  the  nineteenth  of  April,  1 7  75.     Dur 
ing  this  period  of  fourteen  years,  there  was  little  more  than  a  war  of  the  quill. 

3.  From  the  battle  of  Lexington  to  the  signature  of  the  treaty  with  France, 
on  the  sixth  of  February,  1778.     During  this  period  of  three  years,  the  war  was 
exclusively  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. 

4.  From  the  treaty  with  France  to  the  commencement  of  hostilities  between 
Great  Britain  and  France,  in  the  first  place ;  afterwards,  with  Spain ;  then  to 
the  gradual  progress  of  the  armed  neutrality,  and  the  war  of  England  against 
Holland.     Finally,  all  these  scenes  have  their  catastrophe  in  the  negotiations  of 
the  peace. 

1  In  the  original  edition  of  this  work,  the  letter  was  in  French ;  but  as  it  was 
not  so  written  by  the  author,  and  as  an  authorized  English  version  has  been  since 
published,  that  has  been  adopted  in  the  present  instance. 


APPENDIX.  493 

Without  a  distinct  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  colonies  in  the  first  period, 
a  writer  will  find  himself  embarrassed,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  book, 
to  account  for  events  and  characters  which  will  present  themselves  in  every  step 
of  his  path,  as  he  advances  to  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  periods.  To  acquire 
a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  first  period,  it  will  be  necessary  to  read  all  the  char 
ters  granted  to  the  colonies,  and  the  commissions  and  instructions  given  to  govern 
ors,  all  the  codes  of  laws  of  the  different  colonies,  (and  thirteen  volumes  in  folio, 
of  dry,  disgusting  statutes,  cannot  be  read  with  pleasure,  or  in  a  short  time,)  all 
the  records  of  the  legislatures  of  the  several  colonies,  (which  cannot  be  found 
but  in  manuscript,  and  by  travelling  in  person  from  New  Hampshire  to  Georgia)  ; 
the  records  of  the  board  of  trade  and  plantations  in  Great  Britain,  from  its 
institution  to  its  dissolution ;  as  also  the  files  in  the  offices  of  some  of  the  Secreta 
ries  of  State. 

There  is  another  branch  of  reading  which  cannot  be  neglected,  if  the  former 
might  be  omitted.  I  mean  those  writings  which  have  appeared  in  America  from 
time  to  time.  I  pretend  not,  however,  in  the  place  where  I  am,  at  a  distance 
from  all  books  and  writings,  to  make  an  exact  enumeration.  The  writings  of  the 
ancient  Governors  Winthrop  and  Winslow,  Dr.  Mather,  Mr.  Prince,  Neal's  His 
tory  of  New  England,  Douglas's  Summary,  the  Progressive  Amelioration  of  the 
Lands  and  the  present  state  of  the  British  Colonies,  Hutchinson's  History  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay,  Smith's  History  of  New  York,  Smith's  History  of  New 
Jersey,  the  Works  of  William  Penn,  Dummer's  Defence  of  the  New  England 
Charters,  the  History  of  Virginia,  and  many  other  public  writings.  All  these 
were  anterior  to  the  present  quarrel,  which  began  in  1761. 

During  the  second  period,  the  writings  are  more  numerous,  and  more  difficult  to 
be  procured.  There  were  then  given  to  the  public,  works  of  great  importance.  In 
the  controversies  between  those  who  were  actors  in  this  scene,  as  writers,  there  are 
some  who  ought  to  be  distinguished.  Among  them  are  the  Governors  under  the 
king,  Pownall,  Bernard,  and  Hutchinson,  Lieutenant-Governor  Oliver,  Mr.  Sewall, 
the  Judge  of  Admiralty  for  Halifax,  Jonathan  Mayhew,  D.  D.,  James  Otis,  Oxen- 
bridge  Thacher,  Samuel  Adams,  Josiah  Quincy,  Joseph  Warren ;  and  perhaps 
the  following  have  not  been  less  important  than  the  foregoing,  namely,  —  the 
writings  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  Mr.  Wilson,  and  Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia ;  of  Mr. 
Livingston,  and  Mr.  McDougall,  of  New  York ;  of  Colonel  Bland  and  Arthur  Lee, 
of  Virginia,  and  of  many  others.  The  records  of  the  town  of  Boston,  and  espe 
cially  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  the  records  of  the  Board  of  Commis 
sioners  of  the  Customs  in  Boston,  the  journals  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  of  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Moreover,  the  gazettes  of  the  town 
of  Boston,  not  forgetting  those  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  ought  to  be  col 
lected  and  examined  from  the  year  1760.  All  this  is  necessary  in  order  to  write 
with  precision,  and  in  detail,  the  history  of  the  discussions,  before  hostilities  com 
menced,  during  the  period  from  the  year  1761,  to  the  nineteenth  of  April,  1775. 

During  the  third  and  the  fourth  periods,  the  records,  pamphlets,  and  gazettes 
of  the  thirteen  states  ought  to  be  collected,  as  well  as  the  journals  of  Congress, 
(of  which,  nevertheless,  a  great  part  is  still  secret,)  and  the  collection  of  the  new 
constitutions  of  the  several  states.  The  Remembrancer,  and  the  Annual  Regi 
ster,  periodical  papers,  published  in  England.  The  Affaires  de  VAngleterre  et  de 
VAmerique,  and  the  Mercure  de  France,  published  in  Paris,  and  the  Politique 
VOL.  V.  42 


494  APPENDIX. 

Hottandois,  printed  at  Amsterdam.  The  whole  course  of  tho  Correspondence  of 
General  Washington  with  Congress,  from  the  month  of  July,  1775,  to  this  day, 
which  has  not  yet  been  published,  and  which  will  not  be  published  till  Congress 
shall  order  or  permit  it.  Allow  me  to  say,  that  until  this  vast  source  of  information 
Bhall  be  opened,  it  will  be  scarcely  possible  for  any  man  to  undertake  the  history 
of  the  American  War.  There  are  still  other  writings  of  importance,  in  the  office 
of  the  Secret  Committee  of  Congress,  in  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs,  in 
the  Committee  on  the  Treasury,  in  the  Marine  or  Naval  Committee,  in  the  Board 
of  War,  as  long  as  it  existed,  and  of  the  Departments  of  War,  of  the  Navy,  the 
Finances,  and  of  Foreign  Affairs,  from  their  institution.  There  are  also  letters 
of  American  ministers  in  France,  Spain,  Holland,  and  other  parts  of  Europe. 

The  greatest  part  of  the  documents  and  materials  being  still  secret,  it  is  pre 
mature  to  undertake  a  general  history  of  the  American  Revolution.  But  too 
much  labor  and  care  cannot  be  employed  in  making  collections  of  those  mate 
rials.  There  exist,  however,  in  part,  already  two  or  three  general  histories  of  the 
American  War,  and  the  American  Revolution,  published  in  London,  and  two  or 
three  others  published  in  Paris.  Those  in  the  English  language  are  only  mate 
rials,  indigested  and  confused,  without  discernment ;  and  all  these  histories,  both 
in  French  and  English,  are  only  monuments  of  the  complete  ignorance  of  the 
writers  of  their  subject.  The  whole  of  a  long  life,  to  begin  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  will  be  necessary  to  assemble  from  all  nations,  and  from  all  parts  of  the 
world  in  which  they  are  deposited,  the  documents  proper  to  form  a  complete 
history  of  the  American  Revolution,  because  it  is  indeed  the  history  of  mankind 
during  that  epoch.  The  histories  of  France,  Spain,  Holland,  England,  and  the 
neutral  powers,  must  be  united  with  that  of  America.  The  materials  ought  to  be 
assembled  from  all  those  nations ;  and  the  documents,  the  most  important  of  all,  as 
well  as  the  characters  of  actors  and  the  secret  springs  of  action,  are  still  concealed 
in  cabinets,  and  enveloped  in  ciphers.  Whether  you,  sir,  undertake  to  give  a 
general  history,  or  only  observations  and  remarks,  like  those  you  have  published 
concerning  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  you  will  produce  a  work  very  interesting 
and  instructive  in  morality,  policy,  and  legislation  ;  and  I  shall  esteem  it  an  honor 
and  a  pleasure  to  furnish  you  with  any  little  assistance  in  my  power  to  facilitate 
your  researches. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  whether  the  government  of  France  would  wish 
to  see  any  work  profoundly  written,  and  by  an  author  of  great  celebrity,  in  the 
French  language.  Principles  of  government  must  be  laid  open,  so  different  from 
those  which  we  find  in  Europe,  especially  in  France,  that  such  an  essay,  perhaps, 
would  not  be  seen  with  indifference ;  but  of  this  I  am  not  a  competent  judge. 

Permit  me,  sir,  before  I  finish  this  letter,  to  point  at  a  key  to  all  this  history. 
There  is  a  general  analogy  in  the  governments  and  characters  of  all  the  thirteen 
states ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  debates  and  the  war  began  in  Massachusetts  Bay, 
the  principal  province  of  New  England,  that  their  primitive  institutions  produced 
their  first  effect.  Four  of  these  institutions  ought  to  be  amply  investigated  and 
maturely  considered  by  any  person  who  wishes  to  write  with  correct  information 
upon  this  subject ;  for  they  have  produced  a  decisive  effect,  not  only  in  the  first 
determinations  of  the  controversies  in  writing,  and  the  first  debates  in  council, 
and  the  first  resolutions  to  resist  in  arms,  but  also  by  the  influence  they  had  on 
the  minds  of  the  other  colonies,  by  giving  them  an  example  to  adopt  more  or 


APPENDIX.  495 

less  the  same  institutions  and  similar  measures.  The  four  institutions  intended 
are:  — 

1.  The  towns  or  districts.  3.  The  schools. 

2.  The  congregations.  4.  The  militia. 

The  towns  are  certain  extents  of  country,  or  districts  of  territory,  into  which 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  llhode  Island,  are  divided. 
These  towns  contain  upon  an  average,  say,  six  miles  or  two  leagues  square. 
The  inhabitants  who  live  within  these  limits  are  formed  by  law  into  corporations, 
or  bodies  politic,  and  are  invested  with  certain  powers  and  privileges,  as,  for  ex 
ample,  to  repair  the  great  roads  or  highways,  to  support  the  poor,  to  choose  their 
selectmen,  constables,  collectors  of  taxes,  and  above  all,  their  representatives  in 
the  legislature ;  as  also,  the  right  to  assemble,  whenever  they  are  summoned  by 
their  selectmen,  in  their  town  halls,  there  to  deliberate  upon  the  public  affairs  of 
the  town,  or  to  give  instructions  to  their  representatives  in  the  legislature.  The 
consequences  of  these  institutions  have  been,  that  the  inhabitants,  having  ac 
quired  from  their  infancy  the  habit  of  discussing,  of  deliberating,  and  of  judging 
of  public  affairs,  it  was  in  these  assemblies  of  towns  or  districts  that  the  senti 
ments  of  the  people  were  formed  in  the  first  place,  and  their  resolutions  were 
taken  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  disputes  and  the  war  with  Great 
Britain. 

2.  The  congregations  are  religious  societies,  which  comprehend   the  whole 
people.     Every  district  contains  a  parish  or  religious  congregation.     In  general, 
they  have  but  one,  though  some  of  them  have  several.     Each  parish  has  a  tem 
ple  for  public  worship,  and  a  minister,  maintained  at  the  public  expense.     The 
constitutions  of  these  congregations  are  extremely  popular,  and  the  clergy  have 
little  influence  or  authority  beyond  that  which  their  own  piety,  virtues,  and 
talents  naturally  give  them.     They  are  chosen  by  the  people  of  their  parishes, 
and  receive  their  ordinations  from  the  neighboring  clergy.    They  are  all  married, 
have  families,  and  live  with  their  parishioners  in  an  intimate  and  perfect  friend 
ship.     They  visit  the  sick ;  they  are  charitable  to  the  poor ;  they  solemnize  mar 
riages  and  funerals,  and  preach  twice  every  Sunday.    The  smallest  imputation  on 
their  moral  character  would  destroy  their  influence,  and  ruin  them  forever.    They 
are,  therefore,  wise,  virtuous,  and  pious  men  ;  their  sentiments  are  generally  con 
formable  to  those  of  their  people,  and  they  are  jealous  friends  of  liberty. 

3.  There  are  schools  in  every  town,  established  by  an  express  law  of  the 
colony.     Every  town  containing  sixty  families,  is  obliged,  under  a  penalty,  to 
maintain  constantly  a  school  and  a  schoolmaster,  who  shall  teach  his  scholars 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  the  rudiments  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  lan 
guages.     All  the  children  of  the  inhabitants,  the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor,  have  a 
right  to  go  to  these  public  schools.     There,  are  formed  the  candidates  for  admis 
sion  as  students  into  the  colleges  at  Cambridge,  New  Haven,  Princeton,  and  Dart 
mouth.     In  these  colleges  are  educated  future  masters  for  these  schools,  future 
ministers  for  these  congregations,  doctors  of  law  and  medicine,  and  magistrates 
and  officers  for  the  government  of  the  country. 

4.  The  militia  comprehends  the  whole  people.     By  virtue  of  the  laws  of  the 
country,  every  male  inhabitant  between  sixteen  and  sixty  years  of  age,  is  en 
rolled  in  a  company,  and  a  regiment  of  militia  completely  organized  with  all  its 
officers.     He  is  enjoined  to  keep  always  in  his  house,  and  at  his  own  expense,  a 


496  APPENDIX. 

firelock  in  good  order,  a  powder  horn,  a  pound  of  powder,  twelve  flints,  four-and- 
twenty  balls  of  lead,  a  cartridge  box,  and  a  knapsack;  so  that  the  whole  country 
is  ready  to  march  for  its  own  defence  upon  the  first  signal  of  alarm.  These  com 
panies  and  regiments  are  obliged  to  assemble  at  certain  times  in  every  year, 
under  the  orders  of  their  officers,  for  the  inspection  of  their  arms  and  ammuni 
tion,  and  to  perform  their  exercises  and  manoeuvres. 

Behold,  sir,  a  little  sketch  of  the  four  principal  sources  of  that  prudence  in 
council  and  that  military  valor  and  ability,  which  have  produced  the  American 
Revolution,  and  which  I  hope  will  be  sacredly  preserved  as  the  foundations  of 
the  liberty,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  the  people. 

If  there  are  any  other  particulars,  concerning  which  I  can  give  you  any  inform 
ation,  be  so  good  as  to  point  them  out. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

1782.  JOHN  ADAMS. 


This  letter  was  privately  communicated  to  M.  Marmontel,  who  seems  to  have 
had  some  intention  of  writing  on  America,  as  well  as  the  person  to  whom  it  was 
addressed,  and  it  drew  from  both  the  following  acknowledgments. 


L'Abbe  de  Mably  est  bien  fache  de  ne  s'etre  pas  trouve  chez  lui  quand  Mon 
sieur  Adams  lui  a  fait  Phonneur  d'y  passer.  II  a  celui  de  lui  remettre  Pecrit  qu'il 
lui  a  addresse.  Jamais  PAbbe  de  Mably  ne  s'est  propose  d'ecrire  Phistoire  de  la 
revolution  d'Amerique ;  il  seroit  mort  avant  que  d'avoir  rassemble  la  moitie  dea 
materiaux  d'un  si  important  ouvrage.  II  sera  tres  oblige  a  Monsieur  Adams  s'il 
vent  avoir  la  bonte  de  lui  faire  tirer  une  copie  de  la  derniere  partie  de  cet  ecrit, 
en  y  joignant  quelques  remarques  sur  le  genie  et  les  interets  de  quelques-uns 
des  premiers  confederes,  et  surtout  sur  Petat  actuel  des  richesses  ou  fortunes  des 
particuliers,  et  sur  la  nature  du  luxe  connu  en  Amerique. 


M.  Marmontel  a  Phonneur  de  faire  milles  complimens  a  Monsieur  Adams,  et 
de  lui  renvoyer  Pexcellente  lettre  qu'il  a  eu  la  bonte  de  lui  confier.  Elle  lui  fait 
sentir  plus  que  jamais  Pextreme  besoin  qu'il  a  de  ses  secours  et  de  ses  lumi£res 
pour  etre  en  etat  d'ecrire  passablement  Phistoire  de  la  grande  revolution,  qui  fait 
la  gloire  de  PAmerique  septentrionale  et  qui  assure  son  bonheur. 

Ce  8  Mars,  1783. 


END    OF    VOLUME   V. 


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